A Woman Sweeping up Her Love Letters

Suzuki Harunobu Japanese

Not on view

A beautiful woman holding a broom looks back at baskets full of love letters borne by an ox. Harunobu's image alludes to the popular Chinese legend of Kanzan (Hanshan) and his companion Jittoku (Shede) from the Tang dynasty (618–907). Kanzan and Jittoku were typically depicted as a pair: the former holds a sutra and the latter a broom.

A Woman Sweeping up Her Love Letters, Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725–1770), Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.