Bijin behind screen net

Bijin behind a screen net — the gossamer gauze screen (kaya or sudare) creating a veil between the woman and the viewer that is both practical and aesthetic. Screens and veils in bijin-ga create compositional and psychological complexity: they partially conceal, creating an erotic or romantic ambiguity; they filter light in distinctive ways; and they impose a grid or pattern over the figure that interacts with the fabric of her kimono. Hanko's treatment of the bijin seen through this translucent barrier would demonstrate his mastery of layered transparency in the woodblock medium.