Taira no Kiyomori's Spectral Vision
Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese
Not on view
Looming large in many medieval warrior tales is the hubris embodied in the figure of Taira no Kiyomori (1118–1181), whose ambitions brought death, conflict, and destruction in the civil wars of the late twelfth century. Hiroshige depicts Kiyomori as a man haunted by his past deeds. He stands with his sword half drawn, in a face-off with a menacing moonlit garden, while a woman cowers behind him. The brightly colored interior scene at right contrasts with the monochromatic garden, populated by innumerable skull- and skeleton-shaped trees, bushes, and rocks.
On view for rotation 1
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