The Poetess Ono no Komachi

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Here poet Ono no Komachi stands against a blank background, dressed in the many-layered robes of a ninth-century court noblewoman. Her pose and attire come from an illustrated book by one of Suzuki Harunobu’s mentors, produced about 40 years before this print. The cherry blossoms on her outer robe are an appropriate motif; like the flowers, the poet’s legendary beauty was brilliant but fleeting.

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