The Great Battle at Horikawa

Utagawa Yoshitsuya Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 231

After years spent fighting on behalf of his older half brother Minamoto Yoritomo, Minamoto Yoshitsune came to oppose Yoritomo. This image depicts warriors sent by Yoritomo to raid his brother’s Kyoto residence in 1185. Yoshitsune, carrying a bow, appears beside his wife at upper right as warriors storm the building. A few years later, surrounded again by forces allied with his brother, Yoshitsune and the members of his household committed ritual suicide. Yoritomo subsequently became Japan’s first shogun, in 1192.

The Great Battle at Horikawa, Utagawa Yoshitsuya (Japanese, 1822–1866), Triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, Japan

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The Great Battle at Horikawa, Utagawa Yoshitsuya (Japanese, 1822–1866), Triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, Japan
The Great Battle at Horikawa, Utagawa Yoshitsuya (Japanese, 1822–1866), Triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, Japan

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