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Subject of this series are three famous bravery scene relating to Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune and the battle sites
of the snow, the moon and the flower. - In this triptych Yoshitoshi depicts the fighting scene of Benkei with
Ushiwakamaru on the Gojô Bridge (in Kyoto) in the moonlight when Benkei (? - 1189), who intends to get the long,
golden sword of Ushiwakamaru (= young Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, 1159-1189) as the last sword for his collection
of one thousand. In the center of the dramatic composition Benkei swings his ô-naginata, a long helberd, picking the robe of Ushiwakamaru, who swiftly jumps away in the left side of the composition. The names of the protagonists relating to this event are listed in small cartouches. Some carry the faces of tengu, long-nosed goblins, which are considered also a kind of mountain god with magic power, disguised as a crow and kite and who lived on Mt. Kurama. Reference: Roger Keyes, Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and Color Woodblok Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: 1839-1892; Ph.D., 1982; (c) 1983; work list no. 190; p. 373. |