Onoe Matsusuke as Usui Sadamitsu (1781): Art, History and Details

Onoe Matsusuke as Usui Sadamitsu (1781) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Katsukawa Shunzan (Japanese, active c. 1782–98).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This print is part of a triptych (a composition of three prints) that shows actors portraying three of the four famed protectors of imperial regent Minamoto Yorimitsu (948?–1021). Collectively, they are known as his Shitennō (四天王), or “Four Heavenly Kings,” after the Buddhist deities who guard the four cardinal directions. The characters are indicated by the large house crests on their robes. The actor Onoe Matsusuke I’s identity is revealed by a fan with the ideograph matsu (松), or “pine,” tucked into his robe, just against his breastplate.

Object facts

• Title: Onoe Matsusuke as Usui Sadamitsu
• Date: 1781
• Creator attribution: Katsukawa Shunzan (Japanese, active c. 1782–98)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: One of a triptych of color woodblock prints
• Dimensions: Sheet: 31 x 14.5 cm (12 3/16 x 5 11/16 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1921.314.b

Collection credit

Gift from J. H. Wade

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.