This image shows the popular five-arched Kintai bridge, over the Nishiki river, near the Iwakuni castle in the Suō province. Featuring the bridge in the foreground and the distant mountains in the background, this scene was represented by several other ukiyo-e artists, including Hiroshige and Hokusai, in series of famous places. Sadahide himself returned to this subject matter and designed a differ ent composition for the Kintai bridge in the 1860s as part of his series "Famous Places in the Western Provinces" (Saikoku meisho no uchi 西国名所之内).
Accession Number
C00.1755.053
Format
prints
Culture
Japanese (culture or style)
Genre
Landscapes (representations)
Origin Information
Edo (Tokyo), Japan
Date
ca. 1830-1839
Physical Description
1 print ; sheet 8 1/2 x 6 1/4 in. (21.5 x 15.8 in.)
Note (Period)
Edo period
Note (Medium/support)
Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Sadahide became one of the most prominent ukiyo-e artists of the Utagawa school in the late Edo period and early Meiji period. Throughout his career, he illustrated books and designed prints of beautiful women and a well-known series of foreigners at Yokohama. In the 1830s and 1840s, he diversified his range of topics to include landscapes. He attained the peak of his artistic activity and recognition in the 1860s.