91213-0004 - Emperor Meiji

Print from 1894 (Meiji 27) based on one of the more famous portraits of Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), here dressed in military uniform. Although the original image (and its derivatives) is often wrongly believed to be a photograph, it is actually a very faithful drawing by Italian o-yatoi gaikokujin (foreign advisor hired by the Japanese government) Edoardo Chiossone (1833- 1898). In 1888 (Meiji 21), the only existing portrait of Emperor Meiji was a photograph taken by Japanese photographer Kuichi Uchida (1844-1875) in 1873 (Meiji 6). The Emperor refused to be photographed again, so Chiossone was asked to sketch the Emperor from behind a screen.