Ryakuo nenju Enya Hangan kashi nanaki

Description On a cold winter night the forty-seven masterless samurai break into Moronao's house, seeking at long last to avenge the wrongful death of their master. Identified by their jackets of black and white triangles, they fight Moronao's retainers as they attempt to find him. Yuranosuke, in the lower right corner, leads the successful vendetta. Subsequently he will offer Moronao's head at the tomb of the samurai's former lord.

Exhibitions

• The Nature of Loyalty: Japanese Warrior Prints of the Nineteenth Century. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1989.

Provenance Justine Lewis Keidel [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1986, by gift.

Inscriptions [Signature] On print: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga

Credit Gift of Justine Lewis Keidel, 1986