Soji Temple in Settsu Province, No. 22 on the Saikoku Pilgrimage Route (Saikoku junrei nijuniban Settsu no kuni Sojiji), from the series "The Miracles of Kannon (Kannon reigenki)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
92251
Art Historical Context
In the bustling world of 19th-century Japan, Utagawa Kunis I (also known as Toyokuni), a master of the ukiyo-e tradition, created this striking color woodblock print in 1859. Titled *Soji Temple in Setu Province, No. 22 on the Saik Pilgrimage Route*, it part of the series * Miracles of Kannon (Kannon reigenki)* This oban-sized print (a standard large format, about 14 x 10 inches) captures the serene Sojiji Temple in what is now Osaka Prefecture, one of the 33 sacred Kannon temples on the famed Saikoku Pilgrimage—a devotional journey for the compassionate Bodhisattva Kannon, revered for grantin...
About the Artist
Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) · 1786–1864
Utagawa Kunisada I, also known as Toyokuni III (1786–1865), was born Sumida Shōgorō in the Honjo district of Edo (modern Tokyo) into a family that operated a hereditary ferry-boat service, providing stability after his father's early death. Displaying prodigious talent in drawing from childhood, he became an apprentice to the master Utagawa Toyokuni I around 1801 at age fifteen, entering the prest...