““Body of a Courtesan in 9 Stages”: A 19th Century Study of Decomposition”, 2014-06-24 ():
“Body of a Courtesan in 9 stages” was painted on handscroll by Japanese artist Kobayashi Eitaku c. 1870. It’s not unusual for artists to study corpses and body parts because of their need to learn about the human form, and because of the historical connection between the science of anatomy and artistic illustration. What makes this style unique is that it’s part of a Japanese artistic tradition devoted specifically to the study of human postmortem changes that stretches back hundreds of years.
“Body of a Courtesan in 9 stages” is an example of kusozu, the illustration of a decomposing corpse, that was popular in Japanese art from about the 13th to 19th centuries…Though the painting maybe religious and/or scientific in nature, according to the British Museum it also has erotic themes. Because the subject matter is a courtesan, the curator notes for this piece at the British Museum say that this handscroll also falls into the genre of erotic art, or shunga. The word shunga means ‘picture of spring’ in Japanese. The word “spring” is a common synonym for sex. Below are all 9 panels. All images come from The British Museum.