Object Image

Entertainment Scene

This painting captures the moment when a high-ranking courtesan accompanied by two trainees makes her grand entrance into a salon. The guest of honor, a samurai who reclines beneath a striped robe while dangling his fan, turns from the musical entertainment to gaze at the spectacle of her arrival. The fortunes of everyone in the room depend on how she orchestrates the rest of the evening, as the more the samurai spends on her services, the more trickles down to the other entertainers who are present.

Credit: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund

c. 1710-53

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk

56.4 x 135.5 cm

1985.17

Image and text: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023

Where you'll find this

The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art

Permanent collection