Enjoying the Cool Evening Breeze on and under the Bridge

Elegantly dressed women in patterned kimono stroll and lean along a wooden bridge, some holding fans and parasols, while another figure rests below the deck. Soft grey tones and a pale sky suggest a cool summer evening in Edo-period Japan.

Look closer: A small figure rests beneath the bridge deck, visible at the lower center between the railings.

Artist

Kitagawa Utamaro

Date

ca. 1800

Medium

Three sheets of a hexaptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3883 × 1989 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929