Katagiri Sukesaku and Yashuhiko Goemon, from the series Newly Selected Records of the Taikō Hideyoshi (Shinsen Taikōki)
新撰太閤記
- Date:
- 1883
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Source:
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
新撰太閤記
This 1883 [musha-e](/glossary/musha-e) by Utagawa Toyonobu, held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (accession sc186221, object 254989), depicts the confrontation between Katagiri Sukesaku and Yashuhiko Goemon within the Shinsen Taikōki (Newly Selected Records of the Taikō Hideyoshi). The Katagiri name within the Hideyoshi-circle narrative typically refers to Katagiri Katsumoto, one of the seven spears of Shizugatake whose loyal service to Hideyoshi at the 1583 battle that crushed Shibata Katsuie was a foundational episode of the Toyotomi rise. Toyonobu's composition treats the duel as a tightly-framed two-figure confrontation, with the antagonists rendered in the bright aniline reds and purples that distinguish Meiji-era warrior-print color from the more muted late-Edo registers. The careful inscription of both combatants' names anchors the print to a specific historical moment within the larger biography of Hideyoshi, and the format demonstrates Toyonobu's command of the dramatic confrontation scene as a narrative unit within the larger Shinsen Taikōki sequence. The seven-spears motif was one of the most celebrated stories in late-Edo and Meiji popular history, and Toyonobu's contribution belongs to that broader visual culture.
尾州桶狭間合戦
December 25, 1882
Color woodblock print
新撰太閤記
1883
Color woodblock print
新撰太閤記
1883
Color woodblock print
新撰太閤記
1883
Color woodblock print
Katagiri Sukesaku and Yashuhiko Goemon, from the series Newly Selected Records of the Taikō Hideyoshi (Shinsen Taikōki) (新撰太閤記) was created by Utagawa Toyonobu (歌川豊宣) in 1883.