Temple Garden Cherry Blossoms, 1857

Higurashi no sato jiin no rinsen. Temple Gardens, Nippori. Print shows sightseers walking among the blossoming cherry trees in the temple gardens at Nippori. A cherry blossom (commonly known in Japan as sakura) is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese cherry, Prunus serrulata. In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhist influence, and which is embodied in the concept of mono no aware. The association of the cherry blossom with mono no aware dates back to 18th century scholar Motoori Norinaga. The transience of the blossoms, the exquisite beauty and volatility, has often been associated with mortality and graceful and readily acceptance of destiny and karma for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in Japanese art, manga, anime, and film. One Hundred Famous Views of Edo is a series of ukiyo-e prints begun and largely completed by the Japanese artist Hiroshige. The prints were first published in serialized form in 1856E??59, with Hiroshige II completing the series after Hiroshige's death. It was tremendously popular and much reprinted. Utagawa Hiroshige, 1857

Picture No

12698838

Media ID

47673508

Size

3043px x 4650px (5.8MB)

Credit

LOC/Science Source/Mary Evans