Evening Walk c. 1810 - 1820

This woodblock print, made by Hasegawa Settan, depicts two figures on an evening walk. One carries a lantern marked with the kanji for 'father'. In Japan, lanterns have long been associated with festivals and guiding spirits, thus the lantern may not only light the path, but also evoke ancestral guidance. Consider the recurring motif of light in art across cultures—from the Enlightenment emphasis on reason dispelling darkness to the sacred candles in religious iconography. Light transcends mere illumination, acting as a beacon of hope, knowledge, and spiritual awakening. In Settan's print, the lantern and the father figure it references also tap into deeply rooted emotional states, connecting viewers to themes of family, memory, and lineage. These cyclical motifs resurface time and again, enriched and transformed by each new context.