Bingo Province: Kannon Temple at Abuto (Bingo, Abuto, Kannondo), from the series "Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces (Rokujuyoshu meisho zue)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
130572
Art Historical Context
In Utagawa Hiroshige's *Bingo Province: K Temple at Abuto*1853), part of his renowned series *Famous Places the Sixty-odd Provinces*Rokujuyoshu meisho zue*), visitors glimpse a serene Buddhist temple nestled in Japan's Bingo Province (modern-day Hiroshima Prefecture). Hiroshige a master of the ukiyo-e wood print tradition, captures the spiritual essence of Kannon-dō, dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion—a figure central to Japanese folk religion and everyday devotion during the Edo period. Printed as an *oban*-sized color woodblock (roughly 10 x 14 inches), this work exemplifies...
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...