Beauty at the Mimeguri Shrine

Arts of Asia

Edo period, Bunka era c. 1804/18

Utagawa Toyohiro
Japanese, 1773-1828

This fashionable woman is enjoying a cool evening by the Mimeguri Shrine, located on an embankment of the Sumida River, which flows through central Tokyo. Her clothing advertises her sophistication: a chic lightweight black kimono that reveals the colors of her robes underneath, with a complementary obi (sash). Toyohiro was a second-generation artist of the Utagawa School, the most prominent painters of ukiyo-e, or “floating world” pictures. The phrase “floating world” describes a way of life in premodern Japanese cities (17th–19th centuries) that celebrated enjoyment in fleeting pleasures such as art, beauty, and fashion.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Asia

Artist: Utagawa Toyohiro
Title: Beauty at the Mimeguri Shrine
Place: Japan (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1804–1818
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, colors and gold pigment on silk
Dimensions: 70.5 × 26.5 cm (27 3/4 × 10 7/16 in.); Mounting: 158.1 × 37.2 cm (62 1/4 × 14 5/8 in.); Width including lower roller: W.: 42.6 cm (16 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Margaret Gentles
Reference Number: 1969.641
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/32132/manifest.json

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.