Midono: Spring Fields by a Shrine Gate
c. 1835–38 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · National Diet Library, Tokyo
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
- Year
- c. 1835–38
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
- Original size
- approx. 23 × 35 cm (horizontal ōban)
- Collection
- National Diet Library, Tokyo (impression pid 1306261, call no. 寄別2-2-1-5; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
A strong wind flattens the tall yellow-green grass on a hillside, and travellers bend into it: a woman balancing a basket with a kettle on her head walks with a child, and two men keep their heads down. A path climbs the hill to a shrine gate beside a plum tree in pink blossom, with pale grey peaks beyond under a deepening blue sky. This is print forty-two of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, published by Kinjudō (Iseya Rihei), c. 1835–38. Keisai Eisen began the series and Utagawa Hiroshige, who designed this sheet, completed it. Midono was the forty-first station on the Nakasendō, the inland road from Edo to Kyoto; the English title is descriptive, and impressions vary in colour and condition.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Wind-blown yellow-green grass, soft pink blossom and a deep blue sky, for a living room, bedroom or nursery at 24×16 in natural wood. It pairs with Mieji: Wind on the Plain for two windy walks through tall grass.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (c. 1835–38)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Palette
- cornflower blue
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- living room, bedroom, nursery, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, travelers, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×16. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Midono: Spring Fields by a Shrine Gate in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Midono: Spring Fields by a Shrine Gate painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
