Act V of the Chushingura

Act V of the Chushingura (1806 version): Sadakuro murdering Yoichibei. On the umbrella are the words 'New Print, year of the Tiger' 1806. The Chushingura is the title given to fictionalised accounts in Japanese culture about the historical incident involving the forty-seven ronin and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Hokusai gives a superb rendering of the chaotic darkness covering the murder, the boar rushing over the fields being one of those touches that make him famed as an illustrator.

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