Artwork preview

Paper Wasp (Hachi); Hairy Caterpillar (Kemushi), from the Picture Book of Crawling Creatures (Ehon mushi erami)

Kitagawa Utamaro

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Two-page spread from a book with beige pages and a thin black border around the edges. Left page has Japanese text written vertically along the left edge. A drawing of a wasp nest with a wasp flying nearby is at the top. Right page depicts a caterpillar on a flowering plant with green leaves and pink flowers. The plant fills the right half of the image. A small circular symbol is in the bottom-right corner. The background of both pages is a light beige color with darker beige spots.

Artwork Details

Date
1788
Medium
Page from woodblock printed book; ink and color on paper
Culture
Japan
Dimensions
600 × 410 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original
Palette

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