The Great Battle at Horikawa
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.
Artwork Details
- 歌川芳艶画 「堀川大合戦図」
- Title: The Great Battle at Horikawa
- Artist: Utagawa Yoshitsuya (Japanese, 1822–1866)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 1847–52
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: 13 15/16 × 9 7/8 in. (35.4 × 25.1 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Harold de Raasloff, 1918
- Object Number: JP1115.13a–c
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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