Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Triptych of Loving Couples Playing a Trio of Musical Instruments” (Sanpukutsui hiyoku no sankyoku)
Nishimura Shigenaga Japanese
Not on view
This uncut triptych of prints creates a tableau of six famous Kabuki actors, playfully depicted as courtesans and their clients in a reception room of a Yoshiwara brothel. Each print also highlights a different traditional Japanese musical instrument, as suggested in the title cartouches by the term sankyoku, or “ensemble of three musical instruments.” The title’s hiyoku, literally “a shared wing,” refers to a loving couple or a courtesan and patron. Here, each couple performs a duet on a single musical instrument. All the actors are men, but most of them were renowned for their ability to take on the appearance and personae of women or effeminate young men. They can be identified by the crests on their robes.
On view from March 8, 2021–May 31, 2021
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
