Evening Glow of the Lamp (later edition)

This quiet print shows two prostitutes lighting a lantern to facilitate reading a letter in the failing light of evening. It is actually a visual reinterpretation of one of the scenes included in the time-honored Chinese painting theme of the Eight Views of the Hsiao and Hsiang Rivers. Rather than showing a distant landscape at sunset, Harunobu made the subject more interesting to Edo period Japanese by focusing on two sumptuously attired women. The meandering stream and maple boughs in the background cleverly suggest his reference to the classic Chinese theme.