Splendid View at Futamigaura Bay (1854): Art, History and Details

Splendid View at Futamigaura Bay (1854) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861).

The work and its context

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

This is one of three prints forming a continuous scene of figures visiting Futamigaura Bay near Ise Grand Shrine, one of Japan’s most sacred places. In the background, the sun rises between the “Wedded Rocks” joined by a twisted rope, called a shimenawa, used to designate a sanctified space. The rocks mark the entrance to Futami Okitama Shrine and are said to be embodiments of Izanagi and Izanami, the gods who, according to myth, created Japan. Futamigaura was a place where pilgrims purified themselves before visiting Ise and often lodged afterwards.

Object facts

• Title: Splendid View at Futamigaura Bay
• Date: 1854
• Creator attribution: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: Right print from a triptych of color woodblock prints
• Dimensions: 36.8 x 25.4 cm (14 1/2 x 10 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1943.10.c

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. Ralph King

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.