Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
A Youthful Male Performer (Gakudoji) Dressed as a Woman, with Attendant, from the series “Pictures of People from the Ryūkyū Islands” (Ryūkyūjin no zu)
Utagawa Toyohiro Japanese
Not on view
In early modern times, it was customary for wealthy families in the Ryūkyū Kingdom (present-day Okinawa) to select young sons to train in various arts such as painting, calligraphy, dance, and music. They were also expected to be available to dress as women and perform dances or play musical instruments in official processions (sankin kōtai) to the military capital of Edo, on the main island of Japan. Referred to as gakudoji (boy performers), they often appear in handscrolls depicting the elaborate retinues of feudal lords, sometimes mounted on elaborately saddled horses, or with an older male attendant holding a parasol, as here. Toyohiro designed several other prints on this theme.
