Kuniyoshi: Narihira and Lady Nijô (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Title: Narihira and Lady Nijô
Series: Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidô Road
Date: 7/1852

The 9th century nobleman Ariwara Narihira is one of the Six Immortal Poets and is also credited with writing “The Tales of Ise” (Ise monogatari). Here we see a couple eloping on the Musashi Plain as they are pursued by men bearing torches. If this is indeed Lady Nijô, she later becomes empress and these are her brothers pursuing her to take her back home. The Musashi Plain was famous for its moonrise, where the full moon appeared to rise directly from the grassy plain. Here an enormous moon appears, its outline gently embossed against a soft blue sky.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: ôban
Publisher: Kazusaya Iwazô
Literature: See Sarah Thompson’s “The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidô”, figure 40, page 96.
Seal: kiri
Signature: Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga

SKU: KUY318