Ise, from an untitled series of Thirty-six Immortal Poets

From an untitled series of the Thirty-six Immortal Poets, this 1762 chuban print by Suzuki Harunobu presents the Heian poetess Lady Ise as an exquisite figure of literary reverence. The canonical sanjurokkasen, or thirty-six poetic geniuses, were a fixture of Japanese visual culture from the medieval period onward, and ukiyo-e designers in the mid-eighteenth century undertook frequent updates of the theme. Harunobu's version is unmistakably his own: the seated or standing figure of Ise is rendered in the slim, idealized chuban bijin-ga manner he had refined, her elaborate Heian-style robes harmonized in carefully coordinated colors, and her attribute the silent presence of poetic authority. The print belongs to the mitate tradition in which classical figures are reimagined through the formal and decorative idioms of contemporary Edo ukiyo-e, an interpretive move that invited viewers to read each sheet against their familiarity with the poet's most famous waka. The work was created in the years immediately preceding the 1765 breakthrough of full-color nishiki-e, but already demonstrates the careful color planning that brocade printing would soon make routine. Like much of Harunobu's output of this period, the print likely circulated in connection with the kyoka literary circles whose patronage shaped the deluxe end of Edo ukiyo-e. The Art Institute of Chicago preserves this impression, allowing scholars of Suzuki Harunobu to study his integration of literary canon and the elegant disciplines of chuban bijin-ga.