Ryogoku hanabi

About this artwork

Gezicht op de Ryogoku brug over de rivier de Sumida, tijdens een nachtelijk festival met vuurwerk. Toeschouwers op de brug en in de verlichte bootjes.

Art Historical Context

**Ryogoku Hanabi by Utagawa Hirosh I (1858)** This vibrant nishiki-e woodblock captures the exuberant Ryogoku Hanabi fireworks festival along the Sumida River in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Hiroshige I, a master of the ukiyo-e tradition—"pictures of the floating world"—icts the iconic Ryogoku Bridge bustling with spectators under a night sky exploding with fireworks. Illuminated boats crowd the river below, their lanterns glowing like fireflies, evoking the summer spectacle that drew thousands in the late Edo period. Created in August 1858, during Japan's final years under the Tokugawa shogunate...