# A Shinto Priest, Three Women and a Child - By: Katsushika Hokusai θ‘›ι£ΎεŒ—ζ–Ž (1760-1849) - Date: ca. 1799-1801 - Medium: Ink, gold, and color on paper - Classification: Paintings - Dimensions: H x W (overall): 175 x 179 cm (68 7/8 x 70 1/2 in) - Culture: Japanese - Credit line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer - Museum: [Smithsonian Institution](https://asia.si.edu/object/F1904.177/) - Rights: [CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) - Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/28d44b397b11a0d3f63df6090c15b64d.jpg - Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words) This painting depicts a Shinto priest blessing young women who bear iron cooking pots perched on their heads. One leads a robust young child by the hand. The festival, in which young women carry pots upon their heads, was probably performed at the Tsukuma Shrine in the Omi region around Lake Biwa, to the east of Kyoto. The painting combines strong, expressive brushwork, seen in the representation of the tree and its foliage, with clear, detailed rendering of the figures, their gestures, and their colorful costumes.