Bijin writing a poem V1

The first variant of Kobayakawa's bijin composing a poem presents the figure in a slightly different arrangement from its companion print, exploring the same subject — a cultivated woman engaged in literary composition — through a shifted perspective or posture. The pairing of two versions of the same scene was common in the print tradition, allowing collectors to compare the artist's exploration of a theme across slight variations. Together the two prints constitute a more complete statement about female intellectual life than either can alone.