Courtesan beneath a Mosquito Net

Courtesan beneath a Mosquito Net

Utagawa Kunisada, 1855

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Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786–1865)
Medium: Ink and color on silk
Size: H x W (image): 101.5 x 38.5 cm (39 15/16 x 15 3/16 in)
Museum: Smithsonian Institution
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

This scene of a courtesan emerging from beneath a mosquito net as her cat returns her gaze alludes to a well-known episode from the eleventh-century literary work The Tale of Genji. Prince Genji’s wife, the Third princess, was concealed from public view, as was the custom among women of high status. When her cat pushed aside a bamboo blind, however, the Third princess was revealed to the courtier Kashiwagi, and thus began a secret affair between the two. Mitate (incongruous comparisons between courtly literature and modern urban life) were a popular visual device in Edo art.

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