Minneapolis Institute of Art

Moon Seen through Leaves

Utagawa Hiroshige; Publisher: Sanoya Kihei

Date

1840s

Medium

Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Originally published ca. 1832 by Wakasaya Yoichi. This is a later edition by Sanoya Kihei from the 1840s. Judging from the series title for this print, the intention was to design twenty-eight images inspired by the moon. Today, only two designs are known, suggesting that the publisher abandoned the idea shortly after beginning. For this image, Hiroshige was inspired by a poem originally published in the Wakan Rōeishū (Anthology of Chinese and Japanese Poems for Recitation), compiled in the 11th century by the courtier Fujiwara Kintō: It is not unbearable to see maple leaves fall, Scattering on the mass-covered ground. It is unbearable to feel the wind grow chilly And see the whole sky darkening. (trans. by Yoko Woodson) Asia

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