#2056, Photographed by Mary Elizabeth Kulesa, 2023
Recto
Name/Title
A Hundred Aspects of the Moon Series: Midnight Moon at Mount Yoshino
Entry/Object ID
2056
Acquisition
Source (if not Accessioned)
James W. Paul, Jr., Philadelphia
Notes
Date: 1969
Credit Line: Gift of James W. Paul, Jr. to the Drexel Library then transferred to The Drexel Collection
Means of Accession: Transfer
Source: James W. Paul, Jr. Donated to the Drexel Library 1906-1907
Made/Created
Artist
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Date made
1886
Place
Country
Japan
Continent
Asia
Dimensions
Height
13-1/8 in
Width
8-7/8 in
Interpretative Labels
Label Type
Curator Pick of the Month
Label
In the 19th century Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) made a series of 100 ukiyo-e, Japanese wood block prints, called One Hundred Aspects of the Moon that introduced Japanese and Chinese folklore during a period of increasing western presence. The moon symbolized different meanings in the prints depending upon whether it was waxing or waning.
This print tells the story of Sasaki no Kiyotaka, the winged ghost with blue lips commonly used to depict corpses, who was a high official forced to commit ritual suicide for ill-advising Emperor Go-Daigo in the 14th century. Kiyotaka's restless spirit haunted the court and no courtier was willing to face the angry ghost except lady Iga-no-Tsubone.
