Photo: Spike Mafford
From the photography invoice: "This is a work for hire production and Spike Mafford does not retain any rights to the images created."
This seemingly serene scene is drawn from a dramatic play called Momiji-gari, or Maple Viewing, performed in both Noh and Kabuki theaters. The warrior Taira no Koremochi goes to Mount Togakushi for a deer hunt, and there he meets a beautiful woman who invites him to a maple viewing party. Koremochi drinks some sake that she offers him, and falls asleep. Thereupon she reveals her true form as a demon, and attacks the drunken man. Koremochi fights the demon with his sword, which was given to him by the deity Hachiman, and eventually kills her. In this painting, the demon in the disguise of a beautiful woman stands behind the warrior, under a maple tree.
Image: 33 x 10 1/8 in. (83.8 x 25.8 cm)
Overall: 66 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (168.9 x 36.8 cm)
Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection
33.1685
Photo: Spike Mafford
Not currently on view
Resources
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, December 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013
Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.
