Beauties and Actors

Utagawa Kunisada

Danjūrō VII's Benkei as Fudō Myōō

c. 1824

Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper, 21.4 × 18.7 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The star's warrior-monk role merges with Fudō, a fierce Buddhist guardian, sword and rosary in hand.

• Ichikawa actors looked to this guardian of Narita's Shinshōji temple for protection.
• It might have been a New Year gift marking the future Danjūrō VIII's birth.
• Surimono were privately commissioned luxury prints in small runs, often exchanged as gifts.

Image: The Met Open Access · Public domain (Met Open Access)