Artworks

Amida raigō triptych

Artwork · Anonymous · late 11th century · kakemono · Yūshi Hachiman-kō

Amida, a resplendent gold figure on a golden lotus, faces the viewer as he descends on a lavender cloud — a very public ceremony after Genshin’s description of the welcome. Before him Kannon holds the lotus pedestal for the deceased and Seishi prays; Jizō and the legendary master Nāgārjuna are near, and twenty-eight figures — monks, bodhisattvas and musicians — complete the retinue in red iron-wire outlines, bright garments and kirikane. A lake with marsh grass and a hill with pines and maples in autumn colour are the landscape of Heian. Dated after the Byōdōin doors, probably to the late eleventh century; kept on Mount Kōya. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 146–147, fig. 178. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.