Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Inuzuka Shino Moritaka, 1854. From the series The Book of the Eight Dog Heroes (Hakkenden inu no sôshi no uchi).
The Baltimore Museum of Art: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Wade Laisy, BMA 2011.65
This print derives from an epic novel, “Nansô Satomi Hakkenden,” the adventures of the eight Satomi brothers, the magically conceived sons of the family’s heroic dog. Theirs is an ennobling tale of self-discovery and triumph over adversity. First adapted for Kabuki in 1834, the story has enjoyed tremendous popularity to this day as the subject of movies, television shows, and anime. The work is one of many prints given by two long-standing friends of the museum, Emily and Albert Laisy.
