Description
We are in the garden surrounding the Shishinden (紫宸殿) building, inside the Kyoto Imperial Palace (京都御所), and Minamoto no Yoshihira (源義平), after having scattered five hundred enemies with his seventeen warriors, is now chasing their commander, Taira no Shigemori (平重盛), under the snow-covered branches of the sacred tachibana tree (橘).
The compelling woodblock print, made by the artist Ogata Gekko (尾形月耕) and depicting one of the famous episodes of the Heiji rebellion (平治の乱), is entitled “Tachibana Tree of the Shishinden: Shigemori and Yoshihira” (紫宸殿の橘 重盛 義平) and is taken from the series “Flowers of Japan, Illustrated” (日本花図絵).
The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced in April 1896 by the publisher Sasaki Toyokichi (佐々木豊吉), despite the obvious signs of aging, is in overall good condition.
