Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858),
House on Snow Covered Island, from 'Snow Moon' Series, no date, woodblock print, 9 x 14 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, purchase/gift of Mahonri M. Young Estate, 1959.
On a winter day, two worshippers approach a Shinto shrine on a small island in Inokashira Pond on the western outskirts of Edo (Tokyo). Snow falls gently on this charming landscape with bright blue water, swimming ducks, and fantastically shaped trees behind the lovely red building on its stilts. The shrine is dedicated to Benzaiten, a river goddess of good fortune, music, art, poetry, and knowledge.