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Sanjo Kantaro as a Young Woman Standing in a Wisteria Arbor
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This rare, hand-colored print incorporates a technique called urushi-e, literally "lacquer picture," in which the artist paints deer glue over areas of black pigment, producing a lustrous effect reminiscent of lacquer. Metal filings were sometimes sprinkled onto the pigment for decorative effect. Kiyonobu’s prints are characteristically hand-colored and outlined in black. Inspired by a family tradition of painters of Kabuki posters, Kiyonobu created prints mainly of actors and scenes from plays.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineSanjo Kantaro as a Young Woman Standing in a Wisteria Arbor, c. early or mid 1730s. Torii Kiyonobu I (Japanese, 1664–1729). Color woodblock print; sheet: 29.8 x 15.2 cm (11 3/4 x 6 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade, 1916.1128
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