Beauty on a Veranda in Snow — 雪中縁先美人図
共有
Snow falls softly on the veranda. A slender courtesan stands alone, her layered robes gathered close, her concealed hands raising the collar to veil the lower half of her face. A gesture as old as the late 17th century — and in Sakai Hōitsu’s hands, more fragile and more fleeting than ever before.
The Twelfth Month 👘
This painting is the missing scroll. Hōitsu created a set of twelve hanging scrolls, each representing one month of the year — and this, the twelfth month, was separated from the others for centuries. Reunited at The Met in 2020, it is the only scroll in the set painted in the ukiyo-e style, reflecting the influence of Utagawa Toyoharu under whom Hōitsu trained.
Her yoko-hyōgo hairstyle — two winglike mounds adorned with a comb and numerous pins — marks her as a high-ranking courtesan of the late Edo period. Her figure is more attenuated, more pensive than the courtesans of his teacher. Already, Hōitsu was becoming himself.
About the Work 🌄
- Title: Beauty on a Veranda in Snow (Setchū Ensaki Bijin-zu)
- Artist: Sakai Hōitsu 酒井抱一 (Japanese, 1761–1828)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: ca. 1794–95
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
A Crossroads in Ink ⛩️
The seal reading “Teihakushi” — “Playfully painted by Toryō” — dates this work to the mid-1790s, just before Hōitsu took Buddhist vows in 1797. It stands at a crossroads: the last breath of his ukiyo-e training, painted in the shadow of his coming transformation.
Within a few years, Hōitsu would abandon ukiyo-e entirely and devote himself to Rinpa — the school of Hon’ami Kōetsu and Ogata Kōrin — becoming one of its greatest masters. This snow beauty is a farewell: to the pleasure quarter, to the floating world, to a version of himself he was leaving behind.