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Collections

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Nitta Shirō Tadatsune Entering a Cave with a Torch1886, January

Not on view
Japanese woodblock print of a robed, sword-bearing figure seen from behind, facing erupting red flames and bats against a dark rocky background, with text cartouches in the upper right
Artist or Maker
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Title
Nitta Shirō Tadatsune Entering a Cave with a Torch
Place Made
Japan
Date Made
1886, January
Medium
Color woodblock print
Dimensions
Image: 12 15/16 × 8 3/4 in. (32.86 × 22.23 cm) Sheet: 13 7/8 × 9 7/16 in. (35.24 × 23.97 cm)
Credit Line
Herbert R. Cole Collection
Accession Number
M.84.31.98
Classification
Prints
Collecting Area
Japanese Art
Curatorial Notes
Yoshitoshi here illustrates the courage of 12th-century warrior Nitta Shirō Tadatsune, depicting an incident in which the samurai braves a mysterious cave located on Mt. Fuji. He is shown here marching forward with a torch, while bats flap about in the misty darkness. Inside the cave, Nitta is greeted by a diety, an apparition of the bodhisattva Kannon. Nitta converses calmly with the bodhisattva as his retainers cower in fear outside the cave. Before vanishing into thin air, the bodhisattva commends Nitta for his bravery, as Yoshitoshi does with this reverential print.