A Musha-e Album in the Library of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
The aim of this presentation is to study the prints in an album that belongs to the collection of the Library of the Faculty of Fine Arts in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The album contains 82 prints of warriors or musha-e (from a set of 100), identified as belonging to the series Taiheiki Eiyûden by Utagawa Yoshi'iku and published by Hiro'okaya Kôsuke in 1867.
Two Spanish scholars, Susana Lumbreras and Sergio Navarro, began a research project on the Japanese print collection of the Library. Lumbreras studied its origin and Navarro catalogued some of the prints in the album as part of their research project.
Following up on their initial study, the entire album has since been catalogued, including brief biographies of the depicted characters, as well as a comparative study, examining the warrior print series executed by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, the master, with that made by Utagawa Yoshi'iku, his pupil.
By presenting their findings, we hope to enhance awareness of artistic resources housed in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and encourage future research to widen and deepen the study of Japanese art.