A Courtesan and Her Attendants with a Revolving Shadow Lantern

Attributed to Okumura Masanobu Japanese

Not on view

A courtesan and her two young female attendants enjoy watching a type of revolving shadow lantern. When a candle was lit and placed inside the lantern, the rising air current caused the wheel to spin. Here, the lantern projects an image of a parading courtesan, child attendants, and servants. Though the accompanying libretto text at the top is titled “Names of Courtesans” (Keisei nayose), it is actually a playful song incorporating the names of brothel districts.



On view from March 8, 2021–May 31, 2021

A Courtesan and Her Attendants with a Revolving Shadow Lantern, Attributed to Okumura Masanobu (Japanese, 1686–1764), Woodblock print (tan-e); ink and hand applied color on two joined sheets of paper, Japan

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.