Yamashiro rokuhara yuki: dajō nyū dō jōkai (#14 Priest Premier Jōkai Looking at Snow in Rokuhara)

Toyohara Chikanobu, artist

1838–1912

Yamashiro rokuhara yuki: dajō nyū dō jōkai (#14 Priest Premier Jōkai Looking at Snow in Rokuhara), 1884, Meiji period (1886–1912)

Portfolio/Series title: Setsugekka (Snow, Moon and Flowers)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: color woodcut

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 325 x 215 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 354 x 230 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 12 13/16 x 8 7/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 13 15/16 x 9 1/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Lucy Shaw Schultz Fund

Accession number: 1995.0003

Not on display

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Label texts

Archive Label date unknown:
Priest Premier Jōkai was the religious name of Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181), leader of the powerful Heike clan. Here, the artist Chikanobu suggests that despite his vows, Kiyomori remained haunted by his vanquished foes. As he looks out on a forlorn winter garden, the very rocks and trees have turned to skeletons.

The series title “snow, moon and flowers” refers to the “Three Beauties of Nature.” All three, a snow-covered landscape, a moonlit scene, and flowering cherry blossoms, speak to the ephemeral nature of beauty and the transience of life itself.

Archive Label date unknown:
Also known as Toyohara Chikanobu, Chikanobu was a low-ranking samurai serving in the shogun's government. He first studied painting in the official Kanō school. After the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1867, Chikanobu became the pupil of the print artist Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), whose surname he later took. Chikanobu specialized in depictions of women and children and in historical subjects.

The Priest Premier Jōkai in the title of the print is the religious name of the powerful leader of the Heike clan, Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181). After a serious illness, Kiyomori had his head shaved and took Buddhist vows, though he still lived a secular life. Here Kiyomori looks out upon a scene filled with foreboding as the trees and rocks in his snow-covered garden appear as the skeletons and skulls of his vanquished enemies who have returned to haunt him.