Hannya is the vision of a woman turned into a vengeful ghost and tormented with jealousy. In Japanese folklore women with horns have appeared for hundreds of years, and to this day a traditional Japanese bride covers her head with a tall cloth – to hide her horns of jealousy. In this painting, Hannya’s bulging eyes, red elongated mouth, stringy hair and skeletal features all suggest she is no longer of this world, but a demon. A headscarf partly hides her horns as she comically enchants small reptiles to her dance of jealousy, who also disguise their emerging horns with scarves.
