Red Pagoda

Red Pagoda presents one of Japan's Buddhist towers in the vivid vermilion lacquer that distinguished major temple structures from simpler domestic or secondary buildings. The red pagoda — possibly at Daigoji, Ninnaji, or another major Kyoto-region temple — would have provided Asano with one of his most chromatically powerful architectural subjects, the intense warm red of the lacquer creating a visual anchor that organized the surrounding landscape elements. His rendering of red against green or blue would have demonstrated the woodblock's capacity for vivid, unmodulated color.