Support. Wow. the scan is so good you can see the individual fibres in the paper!
Weak Support A great scan, but it would benefit from some cleanup - notably, that nematode-shaped artefact on his forehead, or the long trail of dirt on the left. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 14:03, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support with or without cleanup. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-08-25 18:52Z
I agree that this is a great image (I uploaded it), but others might want to make sure that they think this is the best example of several similar images. Search for sumo here and there are some other fantastic scans I didn't upload. Calliopejen1 (talk) 21:19, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Support. I'm not bothered by the stains and cleanup issues so much as the fact that we don't know who made it; it's a great scan, but pretty typical in terms of artistic merit among mid-19th century Japanese prints, and without artist information or other image-specific context it has limited value except as a sumo illustration.--ragesoss (talk) 14:43, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
For a picture which is supposed to accurately depict something which predates photography, the condition is far too shabby to be featured. There seems to be some agreement even among supporters that this image needs a cleanup. --Uncle Bungle (talk) 21:40, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, I think clean-up would be good. But that's a very minor issue on this image for me; I disagree that it's too shabby to be featured. Also, I don't think it can be taken as (or was necessarily intended to be) an accurate depiction in the same way as a photograph; it's fairly stylized, and is as much a work of art as a literal portrait.--ragesoss (talk) 00:59, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
More information available. The Library of Congress ([1]) says that the artist is Toyokuni Utagawa (1786-8865) and that this is a woodcut in the "Vertical oban nishikie" format (whatever that means). Before people complain so much about the cleanup, please realize that this is a woodcut print on what looks to be very grainy, unevenly colored paper. Spikebrennan (talk) 22:26, 3 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Question on the restoration do i clear out the splotches of ink that have run off from the original blacks of do I just clean up the numerous spots on the image? Victorrocha (talk) 18:23, 7 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Be patient and I'll have it done by the end of this week. It's a long time but I just can't stand to click at dots for hours a day. It gets boring(sorry I'm human). Victorrocha (talk) 05:20, 8 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry for the delays but this is taking a bit longer than I imagined. I am done with the minor details and now I'm cleaning the black smudges. Expect the restored version soon. Victorrocha (talk) 18:49, 14 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
OK Done! You can comment on the finished product and request any changes you might want. MER-C would you please compress the previous votes and restoration info? Thanks. Victorrocha (talk) 20:54, 17 September 2008 (UTC) P.S. Can someone check what's up with the thumbnail preview? [reply]
Question: I'm not sure how relevant to the article this is. He looks more like a fat samurai, with the swords and stuff, than a sumo wrestler? Is that how sumo wrestlers dressed for competition in the early years of the sport or something? What's up with his clothes? :) Intothewoods29 (talk) 18:19, 19 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've only attended one sumo tournament, but as far as I remember the wrestlers entered the stadium wearing robes not unlike this one. I'm not sure what the deal is with the swords. Calliopejen1 (talk) 16:42, 20 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The LOC does identify the artist. See the link Spikebrennan provided; LOC identifies the author as "Toyokuni Utagawa (1786-8865)" (Utagawa Toyokuni III, aka Kunisada).--ragesoss (talk) 19:31, 20 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]