The original title is Snow Scene on the Sumida River and takes place in Edo, now Tokyo. The print depicts the kabuki actor Bando Shuka I (1813-1855) walking under the snow while holding an umbrella on his right with both hands. He wears a green kimono with rhomboid motifs over a blue flowered petticoat and yellow obi, covered by a burgundy cloak with white geometric designs; at the feet wear the high clogs, the geta. The foreshortening of a temple is depicted in the insert at the top right.

The kabuki actor Iwai Kumesaburo II (1799-1836) is portrayed here brandishing his sword in a typical theatrical pose (mine). No element characterizes the setting; the upper part of the print, given the very dark color, also does not allow a good reading of the written text. Only the author's signature, "Kochoro Kunisada ga" (K.K. painted), is clearly visible next to the character. This print is the right side of a diptych (the actor Ichikawa Danjuro VII is portrayed in the missing half).

The cup has a pinkish-purple engobe on which the central motif consisting of a large bird that dominates the internal surface of the object is painted. The animal is decorated with large white backgrounds, delimited by thin black lines and decorated, inside, with black curvilinear motifs. The two spread wings are adorned with a thick decoration drawn in black on an olive green background. The head is characterized by a large black eye. Beak and legs are painted in tomato red. The background is decorated with motifs in black, dotted in white and red. Near the edge runs a white frame with pseudo-Kufic characters in black. The distinctive element of the cup is the large spout: in all probability the container was used to pour drinks.

Cup with a flat bottom and vertical walls, with three appendages at the height of the edge in the shape of an animal head, perforated to allow suspension. The decoration of the background, in “scratch” on a white engobe and enameled in brown, yellow and green, reproduces an ibex with long curved horns, hopping amidst ribbon-like vegetal motifs. The central image is surrounded by a large ring with dense crossed lines engraved. The internal walls are decorated with triangles and stylized plant motifs; the flat edge is decorated with alternately yellow and green triangles. The external walls are decorated with “saw tooth” friezes.

Approximately square box, lid with rounded edges that matches the container. The decoration stands out on the black lacquered surface in three golden shades, of which a brighter yellow (leaf) and a more opaque tending to gray. It develops on the four sides of the box with the slightly varied design of flowering chrysanthemum plants around a bamboo fence. On the lid, a similar figure is repeated on two out of phase registers. The inside of the box has a reddish and uniform Nashiji lacquer, with gold edges.

Base of octagonal candlestick with concave faces; cutaway, added handle. On the various faces of the large central band, within polylobed arches, there are scenes with human and animal figures encrusted in silver with the addition of gold agemina, inspired by court or hunting scenes. In the fields cut out by the arches, a motif of flying ducks is repeated. In the narrow upper and lower bands appear theories of real or fantastic animals. The treatment of the figures reveals the links with the art of miniature and the influence of Sassanid models, in particular in the case of the sovereign seated frontally and the hero facing the lion.

The tile is decorated at the top right by the figure of a bird, represented in the initial moment of flight, with the neck arched, the head turned towards the sky, the beak open, the wings spread and the legs still hanging towards the branch from which it broke off. The bird's body is ocher in color, the wings have yellow and turquoise internal feathers, white and blue external feathers. Beak and legs are turquoise. In the sky above the bird you can see strips of green clouds. On the left of the tile runs an arabesque border, consisting of intertwined tendrils on a cobalt blue background bordered by a thin turquoise frame. The tendrils have different shapes and colors: a thin one of white color, interspersed with small leaves, always white, and with wider leaves, similar to palmettes, of ocher color; the other more robust and yellow and green in color that seems to develop from two semi-corollas of lotus flowers. This tile comes from the Shah Abbas Palace, located on the "Royal Square" of Isfahan.

The commentary, attributed to the Prophet, was compiled and translated by the Persian poet Ahmad al-Jami (1414-1492) and was copied by the calligrapher Muhammad al-Sabzevari. The Arabic text (in large muhaqqaq characters) is written in gold with blue vocalizations, the Persian in smaller rayhan characters in black. Leading and intercolumn separations are drawn in gold. The first two sheets are illuminated in gold and colors. Another copy of this same text by the same scribe, but dated 1499, is in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

Valuable fragment of the luminous halo of a large statue that recalls the characteristics of the huge production of decorative elements due to the Newar artisans operating in the gDan-sa-mthil area in the mid-fifteenth century. The elegant development of a climbing plant draws successive circular scrolls within which the figures of Avalokiteshvara Shadakshari and Nilambara Vajrapani are placed. The figures of the two divinities stand out in the openwork circles resting on large and thin lotus flowers. The band is limited on the outside by a string of pearls and a border of neatly oriented flames that recall the jagged petals of a lotus corolla.

The central core is constituted by the convex part (bum-pa) of a stupa which was to be welded to an underlying drum and to a base that it is not possible to establish whether it was originally made of wood, stone or metal. On the drum were placed, in the four directions of space, the four figures of the Jina in embossed and gilded copper. The bum-pa is dominated by a typically Nepali-shaped harmika, above which rises a cusp formed by nine rings and ending in an amalaka on which the support of a rock crystal sphere rests. The further development in height, supported by an overlapping metal structure, is probably a later addition. It presents a succession of three chattras (parasols as a sign of royalty), again an amalaka and a new cusp culminating in the jewel symbolizing the radiance of the Doctrine.

Ampoule with high neck and ovoid body, used as a container of scented water. The decoration, divided on the body into three horizontal registers, is based exclusively on arabesques intertwined with thin silver threads. The central register, wider, shows a very dense tangle that reveals its distant vegetal origin; the two upper and lower registers, much narrower, also reflect designs of vines and tendrils and are each divided into four sectors by small rosettes. Below the lower register there is a crown of small pearls; on the rounded part above the shoulder we find the motifs of the central band. The neck has a first short truncated cone section followed by a somewhat spherical swelling and then by a long thin cone that culminates in a spheroidal mouth.

Full text of the prajñaparamita (The Transcendent Wisdom) in eight thousand verses, with both wooden covers, richly carved and gilded. The volume consists of 374 sheets of 20 x 70 cm, written in gold on an indigo background. On the thick cardboard frontispiece, decorated with miniatures, the initial letters are drawn in relief and gilded. The 12 miniatures present in the text are in the style of the 14th or early 15th century thang-ka (St. M. Kossak and J. Casy Singer: Early Paintings from Central Tibet, p.109, N ° 24). The colophon on the last sheet, which will have to be studied better, appears difficult to read: it contains the names of two characters, father and son, of which no information has so far been found in known historical sources.

The screen depicts birds and plants in a snowy lake landscape. The gold leaf, applied artfully to a large part of the painting, creates a golden mist effect that envelops the composition. In the background, at the top right, the rounded peaks of the surrounding mountains emerge. Some stylistic characteristics, visible above all in the way of rendering the flowers, recall the Rimpa school of painting, which was founded in the 17th century. The work is signed "Mitsunobu", a name that recalls both the founder of the Tosa school (1434-1522) and another famous painter of the Kano school (1561-1608) and who frequently appears among the painters of the following centuries.

Tamon-Ten, guardian of the North corresponding to the Indian Vaishravana, is the head of the Celestial Kings who are in charge of the four cardinal points and inhabit Mount Meru as protectors of the World and of the Buddhist Law. From the 9th century he became the subject of a popular cult in Japan which made him to some extent independent of the other three Guardian Kings and was especially revered as a god of prosperity.He has the face of a warrior and is clad in traditional composite armor. Chinese, with their shoulders covered with animal protomes that evoke the Indian makara. The stylized rocks of the hoof symbolize Mount Meru.

The figure of Akshobhya Buddha is painted in gold in the center of the thang-ka, in vajrasana and bhumisparshamudra on the elephant throne. The image is drawn on gold with thin red lines. On its sides are painted the bodhisattvas Maitreya and Manjushri, standing on two lotus corollas, holding the flower stalks on which rest their usual attributes, the kalasha and the sword, respectively. Above the halo there is a small figure of the Buddha himself surmounted by a canopy. On the sides are painted temples, stupas and scenes of devotion; in the lower center, the Guardian King of the East. The gold of the central figure and all the small images that fill the residual space makes this work appear to the eye almost like a thang-ka with a golden background (gser-thang).

Box is low and round with lid. The entire surface of the object is lacquered in black, with maki-e decorations in gold and silver (vine shoots that wrap around a trellis, laden with fruit). The round mirror (d. 11 cm) is in the color of brass, with relief decoration on the back (stylized landscape with a family of cranes on a background of pines. On the other, a large paulownia coat of arms (kiri) motif stands out. Bottom right the oval imprint of a seal with three characters in vertical: "a unique thing, the best on earth".

Inrō composed of five stacked compartments with an ellipsoidal section, with rounded lid and bottom. The exterior is lacquered and gilded, and the decoration is finely painted in various shades of gold, silver and pigments. The depicted landscape, which extends along horizontal and diagonal lines, occupies the entire surface of the object: it is an imaginary scenario that condenses in miniature all the 53 stations of the Tōkaidō, each identified by the corresponding vertical cartouche. Stylized mountains and trees, rivers and junks, bridges and buildings are sometimes hidden by lenticular clouds. On a longitudinal band of the background there is the signature in gold and the small red stamp of the author. The interior of the compartments is in reddish Nashiji lacquer.

Bronze ritual vessel (jue) designed to contain and consume, perhaps even to heat, the wine from cereals. It has a cylindrical body with a rounded bottom, grafted onto three pointed feet diverging downwards. The rim widens considerably upwards, and ends on one side in a long pointed lip, on the other in a long and wide pourer. The overlying pillars have a triangular section, while the knobs have a vortex decoration. The decoration, in somewhat coarse relief, consists of a single median band, the continuity of which is broken only by the attachment of the handle. On the side opposite the handle, the decoration consists of a singular variant of the taotie mask, characterized by two eyes placed on either side of its median axis, above which there are two flat almond shapes (two more eyes?) .

The vase has a rounded and flattened belly and a hollow foot with a flared profile. The high neck gradually widens towards the wide everse hem. The walls are decorated in horizontal bands with white, red, black, pale green and "Han purple" pigments (between gray-blue and violet) on the dark gray background of the mixture. The main decorative band is delimited at the top by a white strip between two red bands and at the bottom by a saving strip between two red bands. The painted decoration represents a hunting scene, with a galloping knight in the act of shooting an arrow and a fallow deer turning towards its pursuer. Horse, and rider stand out in white on a dark background, while a white outline draws the black mass of the deer.

The vase was turned on a lathe, then decorated with applied elements and individually shaped all-round figurines. The whole was finally covered with a fairly uniform display case that stops a few centimeters above the base. Over the shoulder, the vase is surrounded by an inverted collar that supports a large group of characters, including four Buddhas and animal figures. The second level of all-round decorations, in the lower part of the fake lid, is characterized by four jars surrounded by a multitude of fluttering birds. The top is characterized by a model of an architectural complex. The complex iconography of these symbolic vessels reveals the syncretism that seems to have permeated the funeral ritual of the Lower Yangzi region in the third century. Buddhist images are associated with the traditional iconography of good wishes, intended to protect the soul of the deceased.

The Buddha is softly stretched out in parinirvana on his right side, with his head supported by the corresponding arm and his elbow resting on the ground. The hand, partially open in a natural position, rests on the head only with part of the palm. The arm and shoulder are left uncovered by the uttarasanga. The left arm, covered by samghati, is placed on the side and follows the delicate curves of the body: the hand rests on the left thigh. This leg is slightly bent, until it touches the ground with the knee; the right below is stretched out, and both are covered over the ankles by the antaravasaka which falls in broad flaps. The bare feet are placed on top of each other. The thickly curly hair culminates in a large rounded ushnisha. The face of the Enlightened One, framed by the ears with elongated lobes, is smiling and serene: the eyes set in onyx and mother of pearl are half closed, with the edges of the eyelids drawn in red.

In this print we recognize the kabuki actor Iwai Hanshiro V (1776-1847) performing the "fox dance", probably inserted in the drama Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees. In the foreground, the actor is caught dancing lively, resting on his left foot and holding a small drum with his right hand. The movement of the scene is concentrated only in this figure, while behind him the setting is much more rigid: the singer and the shamisen player seem to act as a pure background - even if the details and colors of the clothes are cared for. Even the stroke used appears different: soft and supple for the actor, hard and broken for the musicians.

The fragment, the wall part of a temple, has two relief figures placed on two parallel offset surfaces: on the prominent part of the fragment an image of Shiva is carved, on the rear part the image of a rampant vyala. The architectural part and the sculptures that decorate the surface are perfectly compatible with the wall decorations of the temples of Khajuraho. Shiva, accompanied by the small bull placed at his feet, rests on a jutting base. The stylistic canons of Khajuraho's sculptures are found in the subtle physique of the divinity and in the harmonious and almost unnatural curve that marks the posture of the body. On the rear wall surface there is the rampant image of a vyala, which, as in the temples of Khajuraho, is depicted with a small female figure under the erect body and a person astride her back. The movement impressed on the three bodies is of great figurative impact.

Jar with a pear-shaped body, with a high swollen and configured neck. The painted decoration, black on a very smooth and somewhat uniform red ocher background, affects only the upper part of the vase above the handles. The unique neck, with a truncated cone base, swells in the upper part to form a sort of bulb, and then closes with a narrow and straight edge with thin walls. An anthropomorphic head is modeled between the rim and the top of the bulge. Two perforated flaps, just below the rim, represent the ears. The slit eyes of the depicted character are in slight relief; the long crooked nose marks the transition to the bulge on the neck of the vessel; the mouth is simply modeled with clay paste. Going further down, almost to the center of the sphere, two small lateral protuberances seem to reproduce breasts.

Figure standing above a high pedestal. The dignitary wears a long tunic down to the feet, the tips just protruding from it, under a shorter jacket with the left flap crossed over the right. It has huge cuffed sleeves that go down beyond the bottom hem of the jacket itself. The face has oriental features, and is characterized by the "crested headdress" (liangguan) worn by civil officials. The head and neck were cold painted: traces of black, red and orange pigments can be found on a slightly pink and unstable engobe. The rest of the body is glazed in ocher, green and cream colors. This statue should have been produced at the beginning of the eighth century in Shaanxi or more likely in Henan, where the three-color glazing technique (sancai) was developed. Together with Cc / 2a he was one of two officials who are often found in the same funerary context.

The sculpture, in the late Cola style, shows the figure of Shiva as a master of all arts and sciences and lord of knowledge - this southern image is called Jnana Dakshinamurti. Shiva is seated in the heroic posture of the virasana; under the right foot Dakshinamurti crushes the dwarf symbol of ignorance (apasmarapurusha). The small figure is lying on the ground in front of the high trapezoidal seat that depicts Mount Kailasa in the form of a simple rock. With his rear right hand Dakshinamurti holds a cobra, with a characteristic hooded head; with the anterior one it shows the gesture of the transmission of knowledge, jnanamudra; with his rear left hand he holds a torch of fire (agni); the front left hand, brought in front of the abdomen with the palm turned downwards and outwards, holds a small book.

The almond-shaped halo frames the broad and graceful face of the divinity, crowned by a tall kirita-mukuta: the elongated shape of the halo thus enhances the contours of the head, made imposing by the crown. The large eyes, with wide arched eyebrows that stretch towards the contour of the face, and the short and thin nose - although broken - make the face spacious. The full, arched lips display a delicate smile that seems to emphasize the round cheekbones. The long earlobes, refined by ring earrings in the shape of a flower corolla, and the three folds of the broken neck embellish and adorn the beautiful face of the deity. The high cylinder crown, with a more austere stroke, is embellished with a large full-height central jewel. The edge of the smooth nimbus is marked by a frame of large square pearls and, in the outermost portion, by a motif of hemispherical denticles that symbolize, in the form of rays, the solar splendor emanating from Vishnu.

The figure represented in high relief on the stele, probably placed on the wall surface of a temple, shows the characteristic movement of the body called tribhanga, defined by the protruding posture of the right side, by the inclination of the bust and head, slightly curved to the left and by the arm right arched over the head. The position of the arm raised above the head, with the hand gripping a tree branch, is the strictly canonical one of the shalabhanjika, the one who breaks a branch of the shala tree. The wide and open face has elongated and slightly protruding eyes, highlighted by the high arch of the arched eyebrows. At the foot of the figure there are two small attendants. The stylistic features of the figure are those of the plastic tradition of the medieval Indian period in its central-western variant.

horse, modeled in a rather realistic way, rests in dynamic posture on a thin base, with the right foreleg raised in a graceful way. The head is turned slightly to the left, thus accentuating the general impression of movement. The body and limbs of the animal are sturdy, the chest is powerful, the details of the muzzle are rendered in a fine and effective way with particular attention to the muscles under the skin. The mane, divided into two tufts in front of the straight ears, is arranged in long parallel and orderly curls on the left side of the neck. The horse is almost entirely covered with white engobe and has no harness.

The face, with its intense expressiveness, depicts a mature male character, with softly wavy hair and beard. The hair, probably modeled on the last layer of putty applied, is high and voluminous, with large swirls on the sides of the head and a large shell-like curl on the forehead. The mouth is well designed, with the upper lip left free by the large mustache curled at the bottom; the thick eyebrows are marked by some wavy lines engraved. The eyes, devoid of pupils, are completely open and slightly sunken, with the eyelids almost completely hidden by the eyebrow arch. There are traces of red on the lips and ears; on the beard, mustache and eyes there are slight remnants of a dark pigment. The stylistic character of the work is similar to that of some finds from the Hadda area.

The transverse fracture line at the top right of the fragment paradoxically runs almost parallel to the imaginary line that connects the gaze of the Buddha, on the right, with that of the ascetic, with long hair and thick beard, curled up in a devotional attitude at his feet. The Buddha is depicted standing, with his face turned three quarters. A gentle double curve, which affects the hips and the head of the Buddha reclined forward, highlights the benevolent gesture of the abhayamudra performed with the right hand. The ascetic, crouched at the feet of the Buddha in front of a hut covered with grass and straw panels arranged horizontally on top of each other, wears a yajnopavita and holds a kamandalu in his hands.

Relief fragment representing the assault of Mara's army; the panel is bordered on the sides by two semi-columns with a Gandharic-Corinthian capital; at the top, the relief has a frame with a motif of winged dragons following one another. In the narrative panel below, the Buddha sits in Padmasana on a low throne, surrounded by the demons of the army. The hair is gathered on the top of the head to form the ushnisha; the left hand holds a hem of the monk's robe and the right is turned down to invoke the earth as a witness of its right to attain enlightenment, in the gesture of bhumisparshamudra. To the left of the Buddha in the foreground is Mara, with a cloak, turban and voluminous cylindrical earrings, in the act of extracting a large sword from its sheath. The demons of the army, arranged on three sides, are equipped with mustaches and wear a diamond-shaped armor; at the foot of the throne are three demons defeated and crushed to the ground.

The Buddha sits on a double lotus corolla resting on a throne supported by three lions, which in turn rests on a pedestal flanked by two monks in a devout attitude. The perfection of the casting is typical of the superior technical quality of Lan Na's bronze statuary. The monastic robe with carefully designed folds and without a belt reveals the well-modeled underlying body. The flap of the shawl that hangs from the left shoulder ending in a double "fish tail" stops at the height of the nipple, as is typical of the 16th century Lan Na style. The broad shoulders, the full chest and abdomen, the long and shapely arms, the soft cheeks and chin and the full lips are all typical elements of this style. Uncommon is the presence at the base of the throne of a third lion in the center, next to the two places on the sides that are normally present in this iconography: the roar of the lion (simhanada) evokes the voice of the Buddha who penetrates the space by divulging the Doctrine.