Mount Atago, Shiba (Shiba Atagoyama), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
35.3 × 24 cm (13 7/8 × 9 7/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
34024
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Mount Atago is known for its view, but that vista is interrupted here by the large figure of a man climbing the steep stone steps of the shrine. He is going to perform a ceremony for a good rice harvest and a bountiful New Year. He carries a large wooden rice paddle and a pestle and has kelp—used in a tea believed to fight colds— draped around his neck.
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...