Swallows and Kingfisher with Rose Mallows

Two swallows dive across the upper left of this woodblock print, while a kingfisher perches on a branch of pink rose mallow blossoms. Deep blue-green leaves frame the flowers against a pale gradient sky, and a Japanese poem runs in columns at the top left.

Look closer: A small red artist's seal sits beside the signature in the lower right corner.

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

Date

ca. 1838

Medium

Woodblock print

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

1371 × 1900 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1918