Masakiyo’s Challenging Battle, from Taiheiki (Chronicle of great peace)

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This triptych pictures warriors caught up in an explosion. Cartouches identify them as Satō Masakiyo, on horseback at far right, and Shimura Masazō Katsutoyo, tossed upside down at left—both characters from the early medieval epic Taiheiki (Chronicle of great peace). In fact, these men are the historical figures Katō Kiyomasa (1562–1611) and Kimura Shigenari (1593–1615), allies of the leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598). The artist assigned them aliases to avoid censorship laws banning images of samurai who lived after end of the medieval period.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art