Daimyo Procession, Hiroshige

Hiroshige's series, Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road, is a masterful contribution to a broader trend of woodblock prints that depict the new culture of domestic travel and famous places. His piece, Daimyo Procession Setting Out, shows us the bustle and chaos of travel just outside Edo. The large wooden bridge crossing holds a whole ceremonial procession for the Daimyo, along with a group of monks, some flower vendors, and various other characters. We see laborers, dogs, and children, and the whole assorted group is jostling to space on the road. To enliven his image, Hiroshige has used a one point perspective, drawing the viewer into the scene with the wooden fences that direct the eye towards the horizon line. He has also framed the print from the eye level of someone really standing on the road. These techniques based on his observation serve to immerse the viewer in this moment, bringing it fully to life. The artist has payed much more attention to setting the scene and capturing the collective procession as a whole, than to any one figure in particular. Each of their faces is done with just a few strokes to approximate their expression. He's not interested in the emotions or essence of each individual, rather, he is trying to convey the energy and life of the moment he sees.

Oliver Jue