This triptych captures the ceremony for Japan’s first constitution, held at the imperial palace in Tokyo on February 11, 1889. At center, a minister presents the document to the Meiji emperor, who stands on a high dais decorated with sumptuous European and European-style fabrics. He is flanked by high ministers with a group of foreign diplomats to his left and the empress, seated on a low dais before members of her court, to his right. Based largely on Prussian models, the Meiji Constitution established Japan as a constitutional monarchy centered on a powerful emperor.
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安達吟光画 「新皇居於テ正殿憲法発布式之図」
Title:Illustration of the Issuing of the State Constitution in the State Chamber of the New Imperial Palace
Artist:Adachi Ginkō (Japanese, 1853–1902)
Period:Meiji period (1868–1912)
Date:March 14, 1889
Culture:Japan
Medium:Triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions:Image: 14 5/8 × 10 in. (37.1 × 25.4 cm)
Classification:Prints
Credit Line:Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959
Object Number:JP3233
Signature: Shosai Ginko
Lincoln Kirstein American, New York (until 1959; donated to MMA).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," May 20–September 7, 1986.
Santa Fe. New Mexico Museum of Art. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," June 28–August 3, 1987.
Portland Art Museum. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," August 28–October 4, 1987.
Billings. Yellowstone Art Museum. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," October 31, 1987–January 3, 1988.
Santa Fe Community College Art Gallery. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," February 13–March 20, 1988.
Albany Institute of History & Art. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," April 16–July 17, 1988.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," August 6–November 6, 1988.
Charleston. Museum at Sunrise. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," November 26, 1988–January 1, 1989.
Pullman. Washington State University. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," January 21–February 26, 1989.
Champaign. Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," March 11–April 23, 1989.
Saint Louis Art Museum. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," March 13–June 18, 1989.
Syracuse. Everson Museum of Art. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," July 8–August 13, 1989.
Storrs. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut. "Impressions of a New Civilization: The Lincoln Kirstein Collection of Japanese Prints, 1860–1912," September 2–October 15, 1989.
New York. Asia Society. "Undercurrents in the Floating World: Censorship and Japanese Prints," October 9, 1991–January 5, 1992.
Berliner Festspiele. "Japan and Europe: 1543–1929," September 12, 1993–December 12, 1993.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art," April 8, 2023–July 14, 2024.
Meech-Pekarik, Julia. The World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization. New York: Weatherhill, 1986, color pl. 30.
Keene, Donald. Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. New York ; Chichester [England]: Columbia University Press, 2002, pp. 330–331.
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