Artworks

Shūkongōjin

Artwork · Anonymous · 733 · statue · Tōdai-ji Temple

A grimacing guardian in armour clutching a thunderbolt (vajra), its scarves swinging: the secret treasure of the Hokkedō, linked with the founding of Rōben’s temple, the Konshōji, in 733. Kept in a lacquered cabinet behind the altar and shown only once a year, it keeps much of its original colour and gold leaf. 1 Mason 2005, p. 92, fig. 115. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.