While (not really patiently) waiting for season 3 and Lady Murasaki, let’s talk about the art in Hannibal’s bedroom (left side this time).

The first one is “Hōryūkaku (芳流閣)” by Utagawa Kunisada from 1852. The scene depicts the battle on the roof of Horyu Tower at Koga castle between Inukai Genpachi Nobumichi and Inuzuka Shino Moritaka from the early 19th century novel, “Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (南総里見八犬伝)” - “Tale of the Eight Dogs”.

Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese: 歌川 国貞; also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (三代歌川豊国); 1786 – 12 January 1865) was one of the the most popular, prolific and financially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi.

We already spoke about the second one here.

The third one is “Sesshū Ajikawaguchi Tenpōzan (摂州安治川口天保山)” - “Mt. Tenpō (or Tenpōzan) at the mouth of Aji River in Sesshū Province”, dated 1834. It belongs to the series “Shokoku Meikyō Kiran (諸国名橋奇覧)” - “Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces” by Katsushika Hokusai from 1827–1830.

Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎?, October 31, 1760 (exact date questionable) – May 10, 1849) was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting.

Ukiyo-e, or ukiyo-ye (浮世絵; “pictures of the floating world”), is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that flourished in Japan from the 17th through 19th centuries. Aimed at the prosperous merchant class in the urbanizing Edo period (1603–1867), depictions of beautiful women; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica were amongst the popular themes.

Woodblock printing in Japan (Japanese: 木版画, moku hanga) is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre; however, it was also used very widely for printing books in the same period. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only widely adopted in Japan surprisingly late, during the Edo period (1603-1867). Although similar to woodcut in western printmaking in some regards, the moku hanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks—as opposed to western woodcut, which often uses oil-based inks. The Japanese water-based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency.

The Edo period (江戸時代 Edo jidai), or Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa jidai), is the period between 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when Japanese society was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country’s 300 regional Daimyo. The period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, environmental protection policies, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture.

Sending huge thanks and love to xshiromorix for identifying the pieces and help with information! :)

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All descriptions of paintings in Hannibal are here.