Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The Actors Matsumoto Hyōzō I as a Wakashu and Nakamura Denkurō I as a Samurai Retainer
Attributed to Torii Kiyonobu I Japanese
Not on view
This rare print captures the excitement of Kabuki theater at the turn of the eighteenth century and the gender-bending roles that enticed audiences. Two actors participate in a cherry-blossom viewing excursion beneath curtains decorated with their respective crests. On the right is Nakamura Denkurō (1662–1713) playing the part of a samurai retainer (yakko). His scowling features, be-damned-with-you gesturing, and ruffian stance encapsulate the exaggeratedly boisterous aragoto (rough stuff) roles for which he became famous. In front of him is Matsumoto Hyōzō (b. 1669) as the retainer’s companion, depicted as a flamboyantly garbed wakashu (male youth). Hyōzō achieved fame for his sensuous performances as an onnagata, the term for male actors who dressed as women on stage, as well as for playing effeminate wakashu parts, as here.
On view from March 8, 2021–May 31, 2021
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
