Clouds of Prince Genji

<p>This print by Shibata Zeshin was commissioned by the poet Hozan. Created two years later than <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/43726"><em>The Cup of Long Life</em></a>, it also celebrates longevity. Not only is Zeshin’s age prominently displayed (he signed the print: “the 79-year-old Zeshin”) but the occasion for the print is the commemoration of the 70th birthdays of a number of poets in Hozan’s circle.<br>The print’s depiction of summer plants enclosed by stylized cloud banks references Tosa-school gold clouds and classical Genji images. These were favored by 19th-century poets, who saw themselves (if half in jest) as later versions of heroes from the classical age of poetry and sensitivity.</p>