Zojoji Pagoda and Akabane, No. 53 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Utagawa Hiroshige
Asian Art
The Zōjōji Pagoda was part of the mausoleum of the second shogun, Hidetada. It lay at the southern edge of a hill above the tomb itself. Hiroshige chooses to show only the pagoda's top two stories, painted a splendid red. The dense mass of evergreens pressing close around the building was believed to protect against fire. The six vertical banners rising behind the stylized cloud in the center signify the famous Suitengō Shrine, known for assuring safe births. The area became crowded on the fifth day of each month, when the shrine was opened to the public. The view is to the southwest with Akabane Bridge spanning the Furukawa River in the center.
MEDIUM
Woodblock print
DATES
1st month of 1857
PERIOD
Edo Period, Ansei Era
DIMENSIONS
Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 5/16 in. (36.2 x 23.7 cm)
Image: 13 x 8 3/4 in. (33 x 22.2 cm) (show scale)
MARKINGS
Publisher: Shitaya Uo Ei
SIGNATURE
Hiroshige-ga
COLLECTIONS
Asian Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
30.1478.53
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Anna Ferris
PROVENANCE
Prior to 1930, provenance not yet documented; by 1930, acquired by Anna Ferris of Summit, NJ; 1930, gift of Anna Ferris to the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Zojoji was the personal temple of the Tokugawa family, well known for its ornate attached temples. By the end of the Tokugawa era Zojoji had housed the graves of six different shoguns. The five-storey pagoda here was part of the mausoleum of the second shogun, the most magnificent of all the graves at Zojoji, which was destroyed in a bombing raid in May 1945. The top two stories are shown here. The dense mass of evergreens around the building served as protection against fire. In the center is the Akabane Bridge spanning the Furukawa River; beyond, the broad road runs past the log barrack-lined facade of the mansion of Arima, lord of the domain of Kurume in Kyushu. In the distance is the black firetower, known as the highest in Edo, backed by a wisp of yellow cloud. The six vertical banners in the center symbolize the famous Suitengu Shrine, frequented by many on the fifth of each month when the shrine was opened to the public. After the Meiji Restoration, the Suitengu Shrine moved with the Arima mansion to Nihonbashi Kakigara-cho, where to this day it is immensely popular.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858). Zojoji Pagoda and Akabane, No. 53 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1st month of 1857. Woodblock print, Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 5/16 in. (36.2 x 23.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.53 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.53_PS20.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 30.1478.53_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2023
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement.
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act.
The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals.
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
