名所江戸百景 王子装束ゑの木大晦日の狐火|Shozokuenoki Tree at Oji: Fox–fires on New Years Eve
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
14 1/16 x 9 1/2 in. (35.7 x 24.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936
Accession Number
JP2523
Tags
Art Historical Context
In Utagawa Hiroshige enchanting woodblock print *Shozokuenoki at Oji: Fox–fires on New Year's Eve* (1857), part of his renowned series *One Hundred Famous of Edo*, we witness a mystical nocturnal scene at the Oji shrine district in Edo (modern Tokyo). Towering against a starry sky, the ancient Shozokuenoki glows amid ethereal fox fires—kitsunebi—legendary flames associated with shape-shifting foxes in Japanese folklore. These spectral lights, said to appear on New Year's Eve, draw pilgrims seeking blessings from fox spirits linked to the Shinto deity Inari. Hiroshige, a master of the ukiyo-e ...
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...