Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa ?mez? I ???????? painting ca. 1833; inscription dated 1858 Painting by Utagawa Kunisada ???? The celebrated Kabuki actor Ichikawa ?mez? (1781–1833) is shown in a formal pose and garbed in a persimmon brown ceremonial kimono (kamishimo). His penetrating eyes and distinctive hooknose were features also captured by print artists throughout his career. The triple rice-measuring box (mimasu) crest used by the Ichikawa family of actors appears on his shoulders and sleeves. Omez? specialized in leading man (tachiyaku) roles and flourished from the end of the ei
Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa ?mez? I ???????? painting ca. 1833; inscription dated 1858 Painting by Utagawa Kunisada ???? The celebrated Kabuki actor Ichikawa ?mez? (1781–1833) is shown in a formal pose and garbed in a persimmon brown ceremonial kimono (kamishimo). His penetrating eyes and distinctive hooknose were features also captured by print artists throughout his career. The triple rice-measuring box (mimasu) crest used by the Ichikawa family of actors appears on his shoulders and sleeves. Omez? specialized in leading man (tachiyaku) roles and flourished from the end of the eighteenth century. In 1858, long after the painting was created by Kunisada—probably for a memorial service for ?mezo’s twenty-seventh death anniversary—an inscription was added by Ichikawa Danj?r? VII (Ebiz? V), certainly the most prominent Kabuki actor of his generation. As Danj?r? VII remarks in his inscription Omez? recognized the younger actor’s talents early and encouraged the boy when he inherited his illustrious name in 1807 following the death of his grandfather Danj?r? V the year before. The inscription can be translated:From the time of my youth, until I became a serious actor, I knew the joys of the path of acting in the Ichikawa lineage, and never lost enthusiasm for the aragoto style, and the acting methods that should last a long while,he made it his duty to lend me support from the depths of his heart — Ichikawa S? Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa ?mez? I ????????. Painting by Utagawa Kunisada ???? (Japanese, 1786–1864). Japan. painting ca. 1833; inscription dated 1858. Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk. Edo period (1615–1868). Paintings
Size: 2282px × 4000px
Photo credit: © MET/BOT / Alamy / Afripics
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