Two kabuki figures fill the frame in a rush of red, blue and blossom.

In this mid-19th-century ukiyo-e print, Utagawa Kunisada shows Umeōmaru and Sakuramaru from one of kabuki’s great plays of loyalty, rivalry and family duty. The two figures are almost pressed into the surface: patterned robes, sharp makeup, crossed weapons and the tension of a scene already in motion.

Kunisada does not just show a performance. He gives you the theatre all at once- costume, character, gesture and conflict locked into a single image.