Important Cultural Property: Painting of the Buddha Attaining Nirvana
| Area | Art |
|---|---|
| Collection name | |
| Age | The Kamakura period (1185-1333) |
| Century | |
| Painter | |
| Pronunciation of the painter’s name | |
| Date (year, month, day) | |
| Year (Christian Era) | |
| Volume | One hanging scroll |
| Material | Painted on silk canvas |
| Size | 171.3×161.3 |
| Designation | Designated as an important cultural property |
Explanation
Painting of the Buddha Attaining Nirvana depicts the scene of the Buddha’s passing. The painting is used as the main object of worship for an annual memorial service held for the Buddha on the fifteenth day of the second month according to the lunar calendar. The Buddha is lying on a Buddhist stand stretching his hands along his body using a lotus pedestal as a pillow under eight shala trees, surrounded by bodhisattva (Buddha elects), devas, his disciples, the congregation who are saddened by his death, and some animals.
The Maitreyas (bodhisattva) on the left side of the head of the Buddha and the Jivaka crying beside the offering stand represent the same patterns as a painting of the Buddha immediately after his death at Kongobuji Temple (Wakayama prefecture) in 1086. The features of the Heian period (794-1185) can be seen in the Buddha’s countenance and the expression of his right cheek placed close to the lotus pedestal. However, because features of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) are also expressed by the Buddha leaning below, and based on the increased number of congregation and animals and powerful brushwork and colors, the painting is considered to have been produced in the Kamakura period, when new techniques were introduced with an atmosphere of old times remaining.
In addition, this painting is also characterized by the offering stand drawn in front of the Buddhist stand, the absence of Anuruddha, who usually leads Queen Maya of Sakya (the birth mother of the Buddha), and a woman with a long hair depicted behind the Maitreyas (bodhisattva) on the left side of the head of the Buddha, who could have been one of the people who had the painter draw this picture in honor of the death of the Buddha. An old scroll roller says that the painting was mended in 1457, 1528 and 1719. This painting was designated as an important cultural property in 1997.
(The Second Collection of Works in the Possession of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, 2002, a piece of writing by Yoshifumi Kanbe was partially modified)