About This Print
One of 261 prints from the series Nôgakuzue (Illustrations of Noh). The print depicts a scene from Kōya monogurui (The Madman of Mt. Kōya), by Zeami, written before 1423.
The Play - Koya monogurui
Source: Developing Zeami: the Noh Actor's Attunement in Practice, Shelley Fenno Quinn, University of Hawaii Press, 2005, p. 301.
Kōya monogurui is the story of a young boy who resolves to become a monk after his father dies. A family retainer who is opposed to this decision searches until he finds the boy in the company of a priest from Mount Kōya. Moved by the eloquence of the priest, the retainer gives himself up to a dance in praise of the Mount Kōya complex. He is reunited with the boy and resolves to take the tonsure and join him. In the most commonly performed version of this story, the retainer takes the boy home and he is reunited with his father.
Monogurui plays are about crazed persons who have become deranged or distraught through the loss of a loved one and who express their frenzied state through song and dance.1
1 Traditional Japanese Theater: An Anthology of Plays, Karen Brazell, Columbia University Press, 1998, p. 158.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #211 |
| Title | Kōya monogurui 高野物狂 (The Madman of Mt. Kōya) |
| Series | Nōgakuzue 能樂圖繪 (Illustrations of Noh) |
| Artist | Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927) |
| Signature | Kōgyo 能樂圖繪 |
| Seal |  Red letter seal in a Buddhist object shape: 年／久 [Toshi / hisa] |
| Date | Printed on March 1, 1901 / Issued on March 5, 1901 (Meiji 34) 明治三十四年三月一日 印刷仝年仝月五日発行 |
| Edition | unknown |
| Publisher | Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya Heikichi 大黒屋平) [Marks: pub. ref. 029] |
| Carver | |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - not trimmed; not backed, minor soiling, light toning |
| Genre | ukiyo-e |
| Miscellaneous | silver metallic highlights on lightning pattern on brown robe Portland Art Museum loan number L2012.113.5 (not used in exhibition) |
| Format | oban yoko-e |
| H x W Paper | 9 3/8 x 14 1/8 in. (23.8 x 35.9 cm) |
| H x W Image | 8 3/4 x 13 in. (22.2 x 33 cm) area within printed black border |
| Collections This Print | University of Pittsburgh 20091209-kogyo-0441 |
| Reference Literature |
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