Painting of the Sixteen Protectors of Buddha
| Area | Art |
|---|---|
| Collection name | |
| Age | The late Kamakura period Note : The Kamakura period (1185-1333) |
| Century | Around the early 14th century |
| Creator | |
| Pronunciation of the creator’s name | |
| Date (year, month, day) | |
| Year (Christian Era) | |
| Volume | One hanging scroll |
| Material | Painted on a silk canvas |
| Size | 112.8×49.5 |
| Designation |
Explanation
The sixteen protectors of Buddha are sixteen yaksha deities who protect the Greater Sutra of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom and people chanting the sutra. They are often depicted alongside the Buddha or the Buddha flanked by two attendants Manjusri and Samantabhadra. This image is hung as the main object of worship in a meeting for taking turns reading the 600 volumes of the Greater Sutra of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom praying for the safety of national land, warding off calamities and inviting good luck.
This image is of the same general style. It depicts Buddha tathagata in the center and two attendants Manjusri and Samantabhadra, on both sides, surrounded by two Bodhisattvas, Hoyu and Jotai, and priests Genjo Sanzo and Jinja, who are said to have been involved in receiving and introducing the Greater Sutra of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom, as well as the sixteen protectors of Buddha, with a canopy on top of the screen.
The screen in the present condition is somewhat tightly narrowed on the right and left sides and on the upper and lower sides and you can see that significant damage occurred in the middle part of the screen below the Buddha. Silk and pigment detachment on some other parts have also been repaired. Except for the fact that the Buddha’s countenance was repainted and recolored, the screen has been, on the whole, kept in a good condition.
Expressions of other Buddhist objects of worship are comparatively harmonious and the black-inked lines that show the characteristics of individual images do not involve lines emphasizing excessively strong fatness, with only a sense of troublesomeness, and are proper. Gold pigment is used for the Buddha’s clothes and crown, the metal fittings of the armor and the belongings of other Buddhist objects of worship are also expressed in black ink with gold pigment. Kirikane is used for a few parts; however, the expression of color using many pigments with white added also make the image rich. The image is thought to have been created around the early 14th century.
(The Collection of Works in the Possession of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, 1992, a piece of writing by Satoru Chinen was partially modified)