Title
As I am about to enter the ranks of those who disobey/ ever more brightly shines/ the moon of the summer night - Akashi Gidayū, from the series One hundred aspects of the moon
18 April 1890
Artist
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Details
- Alternative title
- yumitori no/ kazu ni irusa no/ mi to nareba/ terimasarikeri/ natsu no yo tsuki - Akashi Gidayū
- Place where the work was made
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Japan
- Period
- Meiji period 1868 - 1912 → Japan
- Date
- 18 April 1890
- Media category
- Materials used
- colour woodblock; ōban
- Dimensions
- 39.0 x 26.0 cm
- Signature & date
Signed and dated.
- Credit
- Yasuko Myer Bequest Fund 2012
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 258.2012.83
- Copyright
- Artist information
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Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Akechi Mitsuhide killed his master Nobunga and seized power in 1582. Nobunga’s army sought revenge for the death and so Mitsuhide sent his general Akashi Gidayū, shown here, to intercept the attack. However, Gidayū and his men were defeated, so he offered to commit 'seppuku', a ritual form of an honourable suicide for the warrior class. Mitsuhide did not want to lose his faithful retainer and refused. Gidayū disobeyed and is shown here with his writing implements carefully placed to one side, and the sword sheath on the other. He is focused on his death poem, which makes reference to the moon of a summer night, and prepares himself to perform the final act.
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Places
Where the work was made
Japan
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Exhibition history
Shown in 1 exhibition
Yoshitoshi: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2016–20 Nov 2016
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Bibliography
Referenced in 3 publications
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Yuriko Iwakiri, Yoshitoshi Tsuki hyakushi (Yoshitoshi’s One hundred aspects of the moon), Tokyo, 2010. General reference; Another edition was reproduced
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John Stevenson, Yoshitoshi's One hundred aspects of the moon, Seattle, 1992, (colour illus.). cat.no.83; Another edition was reproduced
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Chris UHLENBECK, Yoshitoshi: masterpieces from the Ed Freis collection, Leiden, 2011, 135-136. General reference; Another edition was reproduced
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