Suzuki Harunobu (1725?-1770)
Suzuki Harunobu (1725?-1770)

A Beauty by a veranda

Details
Suzuki Harunobu (1725?-1770)
A Beauty by a veranda
Woodblock print, from an untitled series of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets (Hyakunin isshu), signed Suzuki Harunobu ga
10 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (27.6 x 20 cm.)

Lot Essay

Allusive picture (mitate-e) to a poem by Gotokudaiji no Sadaijin (Fujiwara no Sanesada) represented by a scene of a woman enjoying the moon from a veranda. The poem by Fujiwara no Sanesada (1139-1191) has been translated by Joshua Mostow in his Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin isshu in Word and Image (University of Hawaii Press, 1996):
hototogisu The hototogisu:
nakitsuru kata o when I gaze out towards where
nagamureba he was singing,
tada ariake no all that remains is the moon,
tsuki zo nokoreru pale in the morning sky.

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