A line of travellers, probably part of a daimyō procession, makes its way up a steep hillside towards the castle, heads just visible on the snowy mountain path. A number of prints in this series included figures almost hidden in the landscape; the surprise of discovery must have added to the viewer’s enjoyment of the print. The dramatically cropped castle towers over the houses in the valley below, emphasizing the steepness of the ascent.
Details
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Artist/maker
Utagawa Hiroshige I (1797 - 1858) (designer) -
Associated people
Enomotoya Kichibei (1786-1844) (publisher) -
Object type
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No. of items
1
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Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EAX.4294
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Catalogue text
During the Edo period, Kameyama (in modern Mie Prefecture) served as both a post town and a castle town for Kameyama Castle. Here a line of travellers, probably part of a daimyō procession, makes its way up a steep hillside towards the castle, the travellers’ heads just visible on the snowy mountain path. A number of prints in this series included figures almost hidden in the landscape; the surprise of discovery must have added to the viewer’s enjoyment of the print. The dramatically cropped castle gate and keep tower over the houses nestled in the valley below, emphasizing the steepness of the ascent, while the trees and background hills all lean in harmony with the slope. This castle was later destroyed in a major earthquake during 1854.
The print shows a remarkably delicate use of colour. Against the stark palette of grey and white, a line of pink bokashi gradation on the horizon and blue bokashi at the top of the print evoke the quiet stillness of an early winter’s morning after a night of snow. The borders of this print have been cropped.In: Pollard, Clare, Mitsuko Ito Watanabe, Landscape, Cityscape: Hiroshige Woodblock Prints in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2014)
Glossary of terms
daimyō
Further reading
Pollard, Clare, Mitsuko Ito Watanabe, Landscape, Cityscape: Hiroshige Woodblock Prints in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2014), no. 9, p. 54, illus. p. 55
Reference URL
