Lot 2033: Koku Yoshimitsu (19th century)

Benkei Overcoming Three Assailants Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper; signed Koku and sealed Yoshimitsu 46 1/8 x 23 3/8in (117.2 x 59.5cm)

117.2 x 59.5cm

19th century

Koku shows us a brightly painted Benkei simultaneously disposing of three of his enemies, while Yoshitsune and his followers are dimly depicted in ink wash, watching from a distant mountain pass. Apart from the dramatic interest of the story, the tale of Benkei and Yoshitsune's resistance to shogun Yoritomo, with its implication of loyalty to the emperor, resonated with the Meiji ideology of reverence for the descendants of the Sun-Goddess Amaterasu.