The Bride Changing Clothes (Iro-naoshi), the fifth sheet of the series "Marriage in Brocade Prints, the Carriage of the Virtuous Woman (Konrei nishiki misao-guruma)"
c. 1769
Medium
Color woodblock print; chuban yoko-e
Dimensions
20.1 × 28 cm (7 7/8 × 11 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
21141
Art Historical Context
Suzuki Harunobu's *The Bride Changing Clothes (ro-naoshi)*, around 1769, captures a tender moment from Japanese wedding traditions as the fifth sheet in his series *Marriage in Brocade, the Carriage of Virtuous Woman (Konrei nishikiao-guruma)*. This color woodblock print, in the intimate chuban yoko-e (horizontal, about 20 × 28 cm), depicts the bride transitioning from her white shiromuku wedding kimono to a vibrant, colorful outfit—a ritual called *iro-naoshi* symbolizing her new life as a married woman. Harunobu, a master of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), pioneered full-color ni...
About the Artist
Suzuki Harunobu · 1725–1770
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1725-1770) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who revolutionized woodblock printing by developing nishiki-e—full-color prints using multiple woodblocks—in 1765. Before Harunobu, Japanese prints were limited to two or three colors; his innovation unleashed the entire artist's palette, transforming ukiyo-e into the vibrant art form that would later captivate Western artists from Manet...