Poem by Emperor Sanjo, from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by an Old Nurse (1835–36): Art, History and Details

Poem by Emperor Sanjo, from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by an Old Nurse (1835–36) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A priest raises a gohei, a ritual implement with zig-zag strips of white paper attached to a staff, while the surrounding figures reverentially bow in a moonlit ceremony honoring Emperor Sanjo (976–1017, reigned 1012–16).

Object facts

• Title: Poem by Emperor Sanjo, from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by an Old Nurse
• Date: 1835–36
• Creator attribution: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: color woodblock print
• Dimensions: Overall: 25.6 x 37.3 cm (10 1/16 x 14 11/16 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1985.326

A detail from the museum

This series by Hokusai was originally meant to have 100 prints, but only 27 were completed.

Collection credit

Gift of J. H. Wade

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (1988): 292-95.
• Morse, Peter, Hokusai Katsushika, and Clay MacCauley. Hokusai, One Hundred Poets. New York: G. Braziller, 1989.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.