画本虫撰 バッタと蟷螂|Cone-headed Grasshopper or Locust, (batta); Praying Mantis (Tōrō or Kamakiri), from the Picture Book of Crawling Creatures (Ehon mushi erami)
1788
ink
paper
From the collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art
About the artist
1788
ink
paper
From the collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dominant colour
画本虫撰 バッタと蟷螂|Cone-headed Grasshopper or Locust, (batta); Praying Mantis (Tōrō or Kamakiri), from the Picture Book of Crawling Creatures (Ehon mushi erami) is a 1788 ink by Kitagawa Utamaro, a Romanticism work, depicting Fruit, held at Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This image shows two insects on a simple background. On the left, a grasshopper clings to a green plant by a pond. On the right, a praying mantis stands on a leaf near a piece of fruit and a stick. The colors are soft—green leaves, brown water, and pale yellow paper. The artist wrote Japanese text alongside the images, likely explaining the insects. The book was made using woodblock printing, a method where artists carve images onto wood blocks. Next, look up Kitagawa Utamaro to see more of his detailed insect drawings.
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