Japanese Print "Meiyo Juhachi-Ban Funa Benkei" by Migita Toshihide
Artist:Migita Toshihide
Title:Meiyo Juhachi-Ban Funa Benkei
Date:1898
Details:More information...
Source:Worcester Art Museum
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Description:
Benkei was a warrior-monk and loyal retainer of the tragic hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune, whom he accompanied through all the campaigns of the Taira-Minamoto clan wars (1180-85). It was Benkei, fighting alone to the death, who bought time for the surrounded Yoshitsune to commit an honorable suicide when he had to flee for his life. Benkei became a symbol of loyalty and courage and appears in several No and Kabuki plays, the most famous of which is The Subscription List (Kanjincho), a work included in the play collection of the Ichikawa Danjuro family of actors. Danjuro IX's (See Meiji Theater by Kunichika in this gallery) revisions in acting methods made this play very popular in the late nineteenth century.
