鳥文斎栄之画 「風流略六哥仙　其の二」小野小町|Ono no Komachi: Number Two (Sono ni), from the series Stylish Parodies of the Six Poetic Immortals (Fūryū yatsushi rokkasen)

Chōbunsai Eishi

1790s · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

Each print in this series presents one of the great Six Poetic Immortals of the past in up-to-date garb. Ono no Komachi (active ca. 850) was the only woman of the six. One of her famous waka (court poems) accompanies the imaginary portrait showing Komachi in flowery Edo-style robes. The motif of ephemeral cherry blossoms in the image echoes the themes of transience in the poem: Iro miede utsurou mono wa yo no naka no hito no kokoro no hana ni zo arikeru We cannot clearly see the shifting colors as they fade—the flowers in the hearts of those we love in this fickle world of ours. —Trans. John T. Carpenter

Artist

Chōbunsai Eishi

Date

1790s

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939