Kinryuzan Temple at Asakusa (Asakusa Kinryuzan), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
35.5 × 23.8 cm (14 × 9 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
34096
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In this print, a red gate and lantern stand out against the white snow, marking the path to Kinryūzan Temple. The combination of red and white is particularly auspicious in Japan; here, it signals the renewal of a new year. A large lantern like this one still greets visitors at Sensōji temple in Asakusa, an entertainment district. In Hiroshige’s time, as today, the path to the main temple would be lined with shops and food vendors and bustling with people, all of which is absent in this scene—pe...
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...