新皇居於テ正殿憲法発布式之図|Illustration of the Issuing of the State Constitution in the State Chamber of the New Imperial Palace (Shin kōkyo ni oite seiden kenpō happushiki no zu)

Adachi Ginkō

March 14, 1889 · One sheet of a triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

This triptych captures the ceremony for Japan’s first constitution, held at the imperial palace in Tokyo on February 11, 1889. At center, a minister presents the document to the Meiji emperor, who stands on a high dais decorated with sumptuous European and European-style fabrics. He is flanked by high ministers with a group of foreign diplomats to his left and the empress, seated on a low dais before members of her court, to his right. Based largely on Prussian models, the Meiji Constitution established Japan as a constitutional monarchy centered on a powerful emperor.

Artist

Adachi Ginkō

Date

March 14, 1889

Medium

One sheet of a triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959