Japan: 'Midnight: The Hour of the Rat' (Ne no koku); Mother and Sleepy Child'. Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), c. 1790

Kitagawa Utamaro, perhaps the most celebrated artist of the 'bijin' genre of portraying beautiful women, was fascinated by images of mother and child in daily life.

This print belongs to a series entitled Fuzoku Bijin Tokei ( Daily Customs of Beautiful Women). To illustrate midnight, Utamaro has chosen a mother who sleepily emerges from her mosquito net to attend to her child, who rubs the sleep from his eyes.

Copyright:

Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Credit:

Pictures From History