Fuji (mountain)
With its steep slopes and level crater, the snow-capped Mount Fuji has a perfect, archetypal shape. This volcano in Japan has been revered as a sacred destination for centuries.
It is partly thanks to the Japanese printmakers that the mountain has grown into the definitive national symbol. The characteristic shape of the mountain is depicted in countless prints and series of prints.
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Playing with proportions
In their prints, artists played with the proportions of Mount Fuji. The vulcano is sometimes the main subject of a print, but landscape prints are often also a bit like picture puzzles, with a mini Mount Fuji somewhere in the background.
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Fuji everywhere
Mount Fuji was so important to Japanese culture and the Japanese identity, that it even appears where you would not expect to find it. For example, Hiroshige positioned the mountain in landscapes in which – in reality – it did not belong.
Mount Fuji is also often found in the background of portraits and interior scenes.
