Lovers’ Parting Embrace through a Mosquito Net (Kinuginu no wakare kaya no naigai きぬぎぬの別れ（蚊帳の内外）), ca. 1767–69 [Meiwa 4–5]

Ukiyo-e, or "floating world," prints such as this depict Edo period Japan’s pleasure districts with their brothels, teahouses, and theaters. This intimate portrayal of two lovers is typical of the genre, but also represents a novel innovation of ukiyo-e culture, as Harunobu was among the first Japanese artists to produce multicolor woodblock prints for the commercial market. Set in an elegantly furnished room, here a courtesan and her lover part after a night together. Sitting on a futon bed covered by a mosquito-net tent, the woman reaches out toward the man. An artificial light, the lantern on the floor functions as a stand-in for the moon in the large ink painting on the wall, in which a gibbon reaches down to grasp the moon’s reflection—a reference to the transient nature of love.