Artist: Toriyama Sekien
Date: 1790
Size: 87 x 27 cm
Technique: Paper
Three dancers perform movements from the ritualized dance called Okina, literally, “Old Man,” or Sanbasō. Performed before the formal program of Noh plays begins, it is a dance without narrative content that is reserved for special occasions such as New Year’s festivities, prayers for prosperity of the nation, and ceremonies to purify the site of a Shinto shrine.On the right is the protagonist Okina, wearing the white mask of an old man and donning an over-robe (kariginu) decorated with a tortoiseshell pattern, a symbol of longevity. The cranes and tortoises that adorn the costumes of the two other dancers are also emblems of longevity. The black mask and the bells held by the dancer on the center scroll identify him as Sanbasō, “the third old man.” On the left is Okina’s young male companion, Senzai, meaning “a thousand years of age.” The artist Toriyama Sekien was trained in the Kano school, but he also created designs for woodblock prints and book illustrations and was the teacher of the celebrated ukiyo-e artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806).
Artist |
|
|---|---|
Download |
|
Permissions |
Free for non commercial use. See below. |
 |
This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. However - you may not use this image for commercial purposes and you may not alter the image or remove the watermark. This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.
|
Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may
not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the
