Kiyomizu Hall and Shinobazu Pond at Ueno

The artwork

The cherry trees are in bloom on Ueno hill, and from the red terrace of Kiyomizu Hall the eye runs down to the pond and the city. You receive it printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• The pink of the cherry blossoms, the red of the terrace, the green of the pines and the blue of the water.
• An image of spring in full bloom, which brings cheer to a living room or a bedroom.
• A gift for anyone who loves spring, flowers and Japan.

It belongs to the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, the series that Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), the best loved landscape artist of Japan, published between 1856 and 1858; Edo was the name of Tokyo until 1868. Kiyomizu Hall was founded in 1631 within a great complex of Buddhist temples, meant also to protect the city from the northeast: evil spirits were believed to come from that direction.

In Hiroshige's day the hall was famous for its cherry trees and its view, but the artist makes it more spectacular than it really was: he widens the terrace that juts out from the temple and turns the pines into giants. This way the print gives back the wonder of a spring outing to Ueno, rather than the exact measurements of the place. On the left you can recognise the famous Moon Pine, with its branch bent into a ring, to which Hiroshige devoted another print of the series. Our reproduction comes from the impression in the Brooklyn Museum in New York.

In a living room or a bedroom it brings a spring that never fades. A cheerful gift.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
With frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass