Sunshower at Nihonbashi

Sunshower at Nihonbashi

Utagawa Hiroshige

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In another version of one of Hiroshige's most effective compositional techniques, the view is from a bridge spanning Edo's Sumida River to another bridge. This bright, tranquil scene is an interesting contrast to the vigorous human and natural activity in Sudden Shower on the Great Bridge, shown to the right. In this horizontal composition, the bridge at Nihonbashi, the first stage of the route immortalized in his Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, is seen as rain begins to fall. Against the still light sky are glimpsed Edo's two other great sights, the Shogun's castle at upper right, and, in the distance, Mount Fuji. As in many of Hiroshige's compositions, the viewer is brought intimately onto the scene by the cropping of the image of the bridge's span.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.