Parody of an Imperial Carriage Scene
1798
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1798
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Parody of an Imperial Carriage Scene is a 1798 by Kitagawa Utamaro, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
Three women in flowing robes are outside under a blooming tree. The woman on the left stands with a fan, her sleeves embroidered with flowers. The middle woman kneels, adjusting the hair of the seated woman, who wears a bright red hat and a robe covered in leaf patterns. The tree above them is full of white blossoms, and the ground is bare. The artist played with size and space here—notice how the tree branches stretch across the whole scene, dwarfing the women. This isn’t a realistic carriage; it’s a joke about how people act when they’re supposed to be important. Check out Kitagawa Utamaro for more of his playful, detailed prints.
