Fireworks at Ryōgoku

High over Ryōgoku Bridge a rocket bursts into a spray of falling light, its thin trail still hanging in the dark, while pleasure boats crowd the black water of the Sumida below. The river-opening fireworks at Ryōgoku were Edo’s great summer night, the whole city afloat or on the bridge; Hiroshige gives the sky almost the entire sheet and lets one burst carry it. The firework is a spray of pinpoint reserves against the graded night sky, its launch trail a single curving line; the crowd is all lanterns — the city visible only as its own small lights. The whole city looks up at once. That is the festival.

Maker

Utagawa Hiroshige

Date

1858

Medium of the original

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Rights

Cleared for print

Catalogue number

PA-00400