A Teenage Boy and Girl with a Viewer for an Optique Picture (Nozoki-karakuri); Kōbō Daishi’s Poem on the Jewel River of Kōya (Kōya no Tamagawa: Kōbō Daishi)

Suzuki Harunobu

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image depicts a traditional Japanese woodblock print. The print shows two people, one standing and one sitting on the floor. The standing person is a teenage boy wearing a dark-colored robe with a light-colored lining and a patterned sash. His hair is styled in a traditional Japanese topknot. The sitting person is a teenage girl wearing a robe with a floral pattern. She has her hair pulled back with a yellow accessory and is kneeling on the floor. The girl looks up at the boy. The boy looks down at the girl and holds a device with a rectangular frame on a stand. The background features a wall with a window and a low table or bench. A branch of a flowering tree is visible outside. A square panel on the wall contains Japanese text. The floor has tatami mat flooring. The color palette includes shades of beige, brown, and black. The overall mood is serene and intimate. The print has a beige background with a subtle texture. A color gradient ruler is on the right side.