Courtesan and flute player

On a chilly day in early spring a courtesan seated beneath a flowering plum is distracted from her reading by the music of the young flute-player seated with his back to her. The setting may be the garden of a brothel in the Yoshiwara. Nothing is known of Ryugetsu, although stylistically and from his signature we can surmise that he was a follower or contemporary of Matsuno Chikanobu (active 1711-16) and Baiyuken Katsunobu (active 1711-36). Once thought of as followers of the Kaigetsudo school, these artists are now considered to have been rivals who evolved their own styles.