Actor Onoe Shōroku II as Priest Tsuchigu

Artist Shunshōsai Hokuju (Japanese, active 1832–1835)

Dateca. 1951

MediumWoodblock print; ink, color, and mica on paper

DimensionsSheet: 15 3/4 × 11 inches (40.01 × 27.94 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: the Asian Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman

Object number2026.22.4

On View

Not on view

Terms

DescriptionThis print depicts the revelation scene from the Kabuki play Tsuchigumo 土蜘蛛 (Earth Spider), in which the monstrous Earth Spider appears before the warrior Minamoto no Yorimitsu disguised as a priest. As light casts the spider’s shadow behind him, the deception is revealed. Natori Shunsen captures the instant before the priest vanishes into darkness, his raised prayer beads evoking the gaping jaws of the monstrous spider.
Renowned for his actor prints, Natori Shunsen trained in nihonga (Japanese-style painting) and later collaborated with publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō. The print belongs to the series Shinpan butai no sugata-e 新版舞台の姿絵 (Stage Portraits, New Edition), published between 1951 and 1954.
Provenance

Provenance

Purchased by René Scholten, New York, before 2001;

Purchased from René Scholten by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; 2026

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