A God Playing a Drum (From the Series The Spring Cave), 1825. These elegant surimono prints come from a set of five images inspired by the legend of the Shinto Supreme Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. She was once so offended by her brother that she retreated into a cave, leaving the earth in darkness. Several attempts to lure her out with cocks crowing, music-making, and a goddess dancing failed, but a mirror hung from a nearby tree made Amaterasu curious, bringing her to the entrance of the cave. A stone was quickly placed at the entrance to block her way back into the cave, and light was restored to
A God Playing a Drum (From the Series The Spring Cave), 1825. These elegant surimono prints come from a set of five images inspired by the legend of the Shinto Supreme Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. She was once so offended by her brother that she retreated into a cave, leaving the earth in darkness. Several attempts to lure her out with cocks crowing, music-making, and a goddess dancing failed, but a mirror hung from a nearby tree made Amaterasu curious, bringing her to the entrance of the cave. A stone was quickly placed at the entrance to block her way back into the cave, and light was restored to the world. Each print is set against a blue evening sky with embossed clouds enriched with gold, silver, and copper.
Size: 5786px × 6445px
Photo credit: © Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1615-1868, 1780-1850, art, cleveland, colour, edo, heritage, hokkei, japan, japanese, museum, period, print, totoya, woodblock