One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Moon Pine, Ueno
上野山内月のまつ · Ueno sannai Tsuki no matsu
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1857
What it is
The celebrated "Moon Pine" of Ueno, whose branch grew in a full circle, fills the foreground — and framed inside its loop lie Shinobazu Pond, its island shrine, and the rooftops of the great estates beyond.
Why it matters
Edo named and cherished this tree for the perfect ring of its branch; Hiroshige makes the ring do a picture’s work, turning a living pine into a round window on the city.
What to notice
The branch leaves the trunk, loops through a complete circle, and returns — and Hiroshige sets the far landscape precisely inside it, a view within the view.
A branch bent patiently enough becomes a moon.
The record
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797–1858)
- Series
- One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
- Date
- 1857
- Publisher
- Uoya Eikichi
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- The Art Institute of Chicago · 1939.1490
- bokashi
Impression note. The design turns on clean registration of the pine’s looping branch against the graded sky; fine impressions keep the needles sharp along the circle and the pond’s blue evenly wiped. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.
Public domain; faithfully reproduced.
Bring it home
Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.
From the same series
One Hundred Famous Views of EdoSudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and AtakeUtagawa Hiroshige · 1857
One Hundred Famous Views of EdoPlum Estate, KameidoUtagawa Hiroshige · 1857
One Hundred Famous Views of EdoAsakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi FestivalUtagawa Hiroshige · 1857
One Hundred Famous Views of EdoFukagawa Susaki and JūmantsuboUtagawa Hiroshige · 1857The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.