hanging scroll;
painting
- Museum number
- 1881,1210,0.1895
- Description
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Painting, hanging scroll. Landscape at Mt Kano in Kazusa province: pilgrims climbing steep stone steps to Jinyaji Temple and Shiratori Shrine through pines and cypress trees in background; more pilgrims on winding mountain path in foreground. Ink and colour on silk. Signed and sealed.
- Production date
- 1848-58 (?)
- Dimensions
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Height: 44.70 centimetres
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Width: 60.50 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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Clark 1992
All Hiroshige's landscapes are based on actual places, and the straight flight of stone steps climbing steeply through the pines and cypress trees in the background of this painting are also seen, as Yokoto Yoichi has pointed out ('UT', vol. 1 (1987), no. 154), in the view of 'Mt Kano in Kazusa Province' from Hiroshige's late series 'Sankai mitate sumo' ('Parodies of Sumo by Mountain and Sea'), published in 1858. The composition of the painting is very different, however, with the two landscape elements pushed daringly to diagonally opposite corners and separated by a chasm of mysterious, atmospheric mist. It was the combination of this sensitive use of ink washes to suggest deep space with views of particular beauty spots known and loved by many travellers from Edo that was Hiroshige's particular contribution to landscape painting. Here the foreshortened winding path that leads from the foreground and the gradually reducing scale of the tiny pilgrims on the path open up a sense of that deep space and suggest the enormity of scale of the natural features. The stone steps lead up to Jinyaji Temple and Shiratori Shrine with a spectacular view of the 'ninety-nine valleys' (Kujuku Tani) from the top.
As with nos 141-3 the top corners of the painting appear at one time to have been covered by a gabled frame which has left stains and discolorations on the silk. This shape is used particularly for votive plaques presented to shrines.
Literature:
Anderson, William, 'Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum'. London, Trustees of the British Museum, 1886, no. 1895.
'(Hizo) Ukiyo-e taikan' ('Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections'), ed. Narazaki Muneshige. Vol. 1, Tokyo, Kodansha, 1987, no. 154.
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Asahi 1996
広重の描く風景は全て実景に基づいている。まっすぐに伸びる急勾配の石段が画中後方に松や杉の間にみえるが、これは、すでに横田洋一が指摘したように（楢崎宗重監修『秘蔵浮世絵大観』第１巻 1987年 講談社 154図）、安政5年（1858）に出た、広重の揃物「山海見立相撲」の「上総鹿楚山」の景にもみえる石段である。しかし構図は全く異なり、本作品では２ヶ所の風景が大胆に対角線上の角に配置され、神秘的な情緒豊かな霧があいだを隔てている。このような空間の広がりを暗示する墨の繊細な使い方と大勢の江戸からの旅人に愛され親しまれてきた眺めと組み合わせるのが、広重の風景画における功績である。前景からジグザグに折れ曲がってゆく短縮法で描かれた小道とそこに見えるだんだん小さくなる参拝者の姿によって、深い空間に開放感を出し、自然の造形の雄大さを示している。石段の上には神野寺と白鳥神社があり、頂上からの眺望は「九十九谷」と呼ばれる。
作品の上部は三角形に枠で覆われていたことがあったらしく、跡がついていて絹にしみができている。この形は特に神社に納めた奉納額として使われたものである。
（伊藤紫織（千葉市美術館））
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'1895 is not by either Hiroshige: a forgery.' (unattributed annotation in the specially interleaved Japanese Study Room copy of Anderson 1886)
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Stains and discolorations at top corners.
- Acquisition date
- 1881
- Acquisition notes
- The collection of over 2,000 Japanese and Chinese paintings assembled by Prof. William Anderson during his residency in Japan, 1873-1880, was acquired by the Museum in 1881. The items were not listed in the register, but rather were published separately as the 'Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of a Collection of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum' (Longmans & Co, 1886).
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1881,1210,0.1895
- Additional IDs
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Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.1565 (Japanese Painting Number)
