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Benevolence, from The Five Virtues
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This print belongs to a series of five depicting the cardinal virtues of Confucianism. In this image, a courtesan demonstrates benevolence by shaving her attendant’s neck. The other virtues are righteousness, decorum, knowledge, and fidelity. A poem at the top reads as follows: "If you would dwell on the path of the heart, / that is kind to others, / then must you not also be someone, / who suppresses even her own name?"
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBenevolence, from The Five Virtues (五常の内 仁), 1767. Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1724–1770). Color woodblock print; sheet: 27.6 x 20.4 cm (10 7/8 x 8 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. Madeleine Hamill in memory of Lawrence Hamill, 1949.124
