Chrysanthemums by Utagawa Hiroshige, from the Hana zukushi mitate fukorokuju (The Gods of Good Fortune Represented as Flowers) Series, Edo eve, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum
This artwork, entitled Chrysanthemums and forming part of the Hana zukushi mitate fukorokuju (The Gods of Good Fortune Represented as Flowers) Series, is a woodblock print of the ukiyo-e genre. The picture is contoured by a fan-shaped outline: this detail more precisely invokes the uchiwa-e categorization, namely a ukiyo-e derived subgenre. The artwork and Series titles are printed in the upper right-hand corner; the signature of the Author appears further down on the left.
As in the case of the artwork entitled Flowers and plants from the four seasons treated in advance, the landscape painter Hiroshige once more proves here to be a naturalist grandmaster showing preference for flowers and animals. It should be noted that the softly closed or opened corollas of the chrysanthemums, buds and dark green leaves overall form a fancy texture on the aged-pink background. The artist is very skilled at detailing the leaf veining and petal delicate mottling. The carefully given result is not to the detriment of the adopted vivid coloring and whole effect.
In the Japanese culture of the time, chrysanthemum was regarded as a goodwill flower because its large number of petals brings to mind the sun surrounded by rays of light. Therefore, this flower symbolized vital energy and as such it deserved to be celebrated, on September even in these times, with the ultimate aim of counteracting the winter decay in brightness and heat. A stylized sixteen-petal chrysanthemum became emblem of the Japanese imperial House whose legitimacy originated from Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of Sun. Therapeutic qualities were attributed to this flower even before in China, and in Japan the kiku sake, a sort of wine of rise with chrysanthemum petals, was deemed to be effective in preventing diseases and extending life.
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The picture is from http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/146876