Japan, mid-19th Century (Edo Period)This striking and highly dynamic triptych was designed by the master of warrior prints (musha-e) Utagawa Yoshitsuya, one of the most brilliant pupils of the great Kuniyoshi. It depicts the famous legend of the warrior Empress Jingū (Jingū Kōgō), who, according to mythology, led a successful naval invasion of the Korean peninsula (Sankan Seibatsu) in the 3rd century AD. The Empress, clad in full armor, sits majestically on the deck of her flagship. She is accompanied by her loyal, long-lived minister Takenouchi no Sukune and other celebrated generals from Japanese myth. The composition is a masterful example of Yoshitsuya's ability to convey energy and motion in the exact style of his master. The swelling, turbulent waves, the dramatically billowing sails, and the fluttering banners perfectly evoke the perilous voyage, which, legend has it, was guided and protected by the gods of the sea.