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Two musicians play a duet under the moonlight as they pose close to the main entrance of Kyoto’s Daidairi (Great Enclosure), part of the imperial palace. In this scene, Yoshitoshi masterfully blends fiction with reality, crafting an ethereal portrayal rooted in Japanese folklore. The scene depicts Minamoto no Hiromasa (918-980), the grandson of the emperor and an accomplished musician from the Heian Era (794-1185). He wears a robe decorated with chrysanthemums and a black courtier’s hat. The figure facing us is sometimes identified as the blind musician Semimaru, who taught Hiromasa music, but his beard and clothing also suggest he may be a foreigner. Both are playing a transverse version of the fue, a bamboo flute. The scene evokes a tranquil, dreamlike scene as the full moon rises above the ancient gateway.Label Type
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Label written by Daniel Arias