Ono no Komachi Visiting Kiyomizu Temple, from the series The Fashionable Seven Komachi (Furyu nana Komachi)
Isoda Koryusai (Japanese, 1735–1790)
Edo period (1615–1868), n.d.
- Medium
- Color woodblock print; chuban
- Classification
- Dimensions
- 26.1 × 19.1 cm (10 1/4 × 7 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Japan
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Clarence Buckingham Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
A courtesan and her two assistants view a cherry tree on the grounds of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. Although the younger women appear unaffected by the sight, the older woman seems struck by it, recalling a famous poem by Ono no Komachi that is written in a cloud:
Why have I grown old without accomplishing anything, While the appearance of the waterfall remains unchanged. (Translation by Chie Hirano)
The waterfall at Kiyomizu Temple is not pictured in this image, although it often appears in illustrations of this scene from Komachi’s life.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
