The exhibition, which opens to the public on Thursday 30 April, presents a comparative display of three series of woodblock prints by Hiroshige (1797–1858), Shigenobu (1826–1869) and Kuniteru (active around the mid-19th century). The project, curated by Moira Luraschi (MUSEC), highlights both the similarities and differences between the aesthetic languages and styles of the three artists, who were members of the Utagawa School, the most important and prolific school of painting in 19th-century Japan. The prints share a common subject: Chūshingura (‘The Loyal Retainers’), the famous kabuki play that tells the story of the revenge orchestrated by a group of 47 masterless samurai, the so-called rōnin, against those who had killed their lord and sullied his honour. Chūshingura has been performed continuously for almost three hundred years, thus keeping the memory of a historical event alive.
The works by Hiroshige and Shigenobu come from the Perino Collection. The works by Kuniteru belong to the Marco Fagioli Archive. As a counterpoint, reproductions of several rōnin taken from prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861) belonging to the MUSEC collections.
The exhibition is open until Sunday 4 October 2026.
The exhibition, which opens to the public on Thursday 30 April, presents a comparative display of three series of woodblock prints by Hiroshige (1797–1858), Shigenobu (1826–1869) and Kuniteru (active around the mid-19th century). The project, curated by Moira Luraschi (MUSEC), highlights both the similarities and differences between the aesthetic languages and styles of the three artists, who were members of the Utagawa School, the most important and prolific school of painting in 19th-century Japan. The prints share a common subject: Chūshingura (‘The Loyal Retainers’), the famous kabuki play that tells the story of the revenge orchestrated by a group of 47 masterless samurai, the so-called rōnin, against those who had killed their lord and sullied his honour. Chūshingura has been performed continuously for almost three hundred years, thus keeping the memory of a historical event alive.
The works by Hiroshige and Shigenobu come from the Perino Collection. The works by Kuniteru belong to the Marco Fagioli Archive. As a counterpoint, reproductions of several rōnin taken from prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861) belonging to the MUSEC collections.
The exhibition is open until Sunday 4 October 2026.