Buddhist Robe Hanging Pine Tree on the Shore of Senzoku Pond
Ando Hiroshige,
Japanese, 1797 – 1858
Buddhist Robe Hanging Pine Tree on the Shore of Senzoku Pond (Senzoku no Ike Kesakake Matsu), circa 1856
Woodblock print
Public domain
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sullivan
1986.097
Ando Hiroshige was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who was well-known for his vertical-format landscape series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. 118 woodblocks in vertical format depicting classic Hiroshige landscapes constitute this series, of which Buddhist Robe Hanging Pine Tree on the Shore of Senzoku Pond is a part of that series. Ukiyo-e, or the ‘images of the floating world’ is a central component of the woodblock print. Ukiyo-e is referred to as the ‘images of the floating world’ for three reasons: 1) It is related to the Buddhist idea, that the world is a floating illusion; 2) Woodblock prints originated from depictions of adult pleasure districts, further accentuating Buddhism’s idea of the floating world 3)Woodblock prints symbolize the Japanese artists’ struggles during that time of attempting to incorporate their newly learned western painting perspectives (extend horizontally) into their traditional perspective (adopted from China, extend vertically). This struggle, especially in the early woodblock prints, led to a sense of ‘floating’ between the foreground and the background of the prints. On the other hand, Buddhist Robe Hanging Pine Tree on the Shore of Senzoku Pond depicts Senzoku Pond with the Robe-Hanging Pine Tree. The tree received its name from a legend about a Buddhist priest, Nichiren, who once stopped at Senzoku Pond and hung his kesa (a sash-like garment) on a nearby pine. This print thus enriches a view of nature with a religious story. Combining the religious context of woodblock prints with a religiously enriched natural scene makes this work an exceptional example of the spirituality of the natural world.
What this artwork also exemplifies a composition of landscape painting unique to the East, originated from China. In ancient Chinese vertical landscape paintings, the paintings were usually separated into three grounds. With the foreground of the paintings being the closest to the viewers, the higher it goes in the painting the further the distance is from the viewers. A great example of this technique is Li Cheng's A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks.
In the foreground of the Buddhist Robe Hanging Pine Tree on the Shore of Senzoku Pond, human figures, animals, and a house (built environment) are present. Manifesting the relationship of these three aspects with the natural world, this section of this painting captures three threads in the Natural World subtheme.
In the middle ground of the Buddhist Robe Hanging Pine Tree on the Shore of Senzoku Pond, the famous pine tree and the Senzoku Pond dominate the scene. Adding the layer of spirituality as aforementioned to this artwork. Being the center of the focus, the middle distance takes up most of the space of this woodblock print.
In the background, the viewers can see a forest that gradually fades towards two mountain ranges, with the furthest mountain overlaps partially on top of the lower one. Often resembling the transition to an infinite capability of expansions, the mountains were a frequent subject for depictions by the ancient Japanese and Chinese artists.
In summary, the Buddhist Robe Hanging Pine Tree on the Shore of Senzoku Pond entails the relationship between spirituality and the natural world in a fundamentally eastern landscape painting composition.
-Stephan Zhou ‘23
