Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
“Evening Glow at Ryōgoku Bridge” (Ryōgoku-bashi no sekishō), from the series Eight Fashionable Views of Edo (Fūryū Edo hakkei)
Suzuki Harunobu Japanese
Not on view
Two young women, depicted in Harunobu’s distinctive style—petite, svelte, and gentle in demeanor—sit on a terrace overlooking Ryōgoku Bridge as the sun sets beside Mount Fuji, to the west of Edo (the former name of Tokyo). The poem puns on the literal meaning of Ryōgoku-bashi: “Bridge of Both Provinces,” referring to Musashi (including Edo) and Shimōsa to the east:
Kawakaze mo / hedataru kuni no /
na nomi nite / onaji yūhi no /
wataru nagahashi
While its name suggests
the breezes across the river
separate two provinces,
the same sunset shines over
both sides of the long bridge.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
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