The Mokuhankan Collection
Data
Description
Text from the publisher's pamphlet:
Mt. Hira is the northernmost of the eight views, located on the western shore of Lake Biwa. It is the highest mountain in the district and rises nearly 4,000 feet above sea level.
Hiroshige's composition is dominated by great hulking masses of mountains. The nearer ranges are depicted in graded grey with touches of brown. Mt. Hira, beyond, is depicted in pure white against a light grey sky which is graded to black at the top of the print. A finger of blue lake is shown in the right foreground, and to the left are snow-covered houses and the skeletons of winter trees. Four silhouetted human figures - the first leading an ox - are shown plodding through the snow in the left foreground.
The poem, freely translated, reads as follows: The beauty of the evening on the peak of Mt. Hira is best seen after the snows have fallen and before the flowers are fully blown.
This design and the print of Karasaki are generally considered the finest two in the series.