Hitotsuya no tsuki 1880

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi created this woodblock print titled ‘Hitotsuya no tsuki’. It depicts an elderly woman standing at the doorway of her dilapidated house on a moonlit night. Note how the moon, partially obscured by leaves, evokes a deep sense of longing and melancholy, themes that recur throughout art history, as seen in Caspar David Friedrich's landscapes. The moon, a universal symbol of change and mystery, is present in ancient lunar deities like Selene or Luna from classical antiquity. The house, barely standing, is reminiscent of the cycle of life and decay, similar to the memento mori tradition. The way the woman is holding a firebrand, lighting her path, parallels the use of candles in funerary portraits, as well as the torches held by figures in classical depictions of Hades or Persephone, illuminating the passage from life to death. This convergence of symbols creates a powerful emotional resonance, tapping into our collective understanding of life’s transient nature and the cyclical return of familiar motifs through history.