Hira no Bosetsu|近江八景の内 比良暮雪|Evening Snow on Mount Hira
1797–1858
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
9 3/4 x 14 3/4 in. (24.8 x 37.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939
Accession Number
JP2848
Tags
Art Historical Context
### Evening Snow on Mount HiraImagine a serene winter twilight enveloping Mount Hira, as captured in Utagawa Hiroshige masterful woodblock print *Hira no Bosetsu* (Evening Snow on Mountira), from his series *Eight Views of Ōmi*. Created during Japan's Edo period (16151868), this work showcases Hiroshige's genius for ukiyo-e landscapes, evoking the poetic beauty of nature through subtle atmospheric effects. The snow-dusted peaks and misty valleys around Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province (modern Shiga Prefecture) draw from a long tradition of "eight views" motifs, originally Chinese but reimagined to ce...
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...