The Hell Courtesan
Utagawa Kunisada II Japanese
Not on view
The robe of this dazzling courtesan shows scenes of the Buddhist hell, ruled over by Enma-ō, a wrathful god who judges the dead and presides as king. Seated on a throne and surrounded by seven judges, he reviews and records the misdeeds of the recently deceased, some of whom are prostrated in terror before him.
The so-called Hell Courtesan, or Jigoku Dayū, was a woman who worked in the Takasu district of medieval Osaka. Jigoku, literally “hell,” was also a term for unlicensed courtesans, while dayū referred to the highest-ranking courtesan. She is said to have achieved redemption through an encounter with the venerable Zen monk Ikkyū (1394–1481), son of an emperor and abbot of a great monastery in Kyoto, who was notorious for pursuing the path of enlightenment while also enjoying the sensual pleasures of drink and hiring sex workers. He is known to have mocked the hypocrisy of other monks who adopted a holier-than-thou attitude.
On view for rotations 3 and 4.
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