Prayers for Rain, from the series Seven Elegant Komachi

1794

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Prayers for Rain, from the series Seven Elegant Komachi is a 1794 by Kitagawa Utamaro, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Kitagawa Utamaro
When & what style?: 1794 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

A woman holds a bamboo umbrella over her child. The child clutches a toy crane while rain streaks the sky. The mother’s hair is fixed in a perfect Edo-period coil. This print comes from a series based on an old play. In the play, a poet hides from rain under an umbrella. Here the poet’s servant becomes a mother with a child. This quiet moment shows Utamaro’s talent for grace. See it at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The story of this work

Overview

Seven plays based on legends from the life of 9th-century poet Ono no Komachi served as the source for this print series. In the play, Komachi shelters from the rain under an umbrella held by her servant. In this print, an elegantly coiffed mother and child replace the poet and her servant.

Read the full account in the museum source.