A Beauty Behind a Screen
Miyagawa Chôshun
1745–1755
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and colors on silk
- Dimensions
- 30.4 × 37.1 cm (12 × 14 5/8 in.), including mount and knobs: 127.6 × 56.2 cm (50 1/4 × 22 1/8 in.)
- Genre
- hanging scroll
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Tags
paintinginkgold leafasian arthanging scrollsilk (textile)Japanese (culture or style)
About
This young courtesan lounges in the summer heat, opening her robe at the neck to get some relief. She reclines next to a folding screen with an image of a cherry tree in bloom. Set conveniently nearby are a shamisen—a Japanese traditional instrument—and a songbook. Courtesans were often trained to play as part of their repertoire of entertainments.
