Nakabayashi Gennai
Japanese, active 1650/1700
Gozanze Myo-o
INV-1188
Nakabayashi Gennai
Japanese, active 1650/17001680
Gozanze Myo-o
Nakabayashi Gennai Japanese, active 1650/1700 →Japanese (culture or style)woodsculpture
Date
1680
Medium
Wood with polychromy
Dimensions
107.5 × 64 × 47 cm (42 3/8 × 26 3/8 × 18 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Iwao Setsu
This sculpture depicts Gozanze Myo-o, a four-faced, multi-limb deity, trampling Daijizaiten and his consort, Uma, the gods of unruly human passion. The figure belonged to an ensemble of five sculptures arranged within the sanctuary of an Esoteric Buddhist temple. The group was known collectively as the Godai Myo-o (Five Great Lords of Light), and together the sculptures symbolize the rage against all threats to Buddhism and all obstacles to enlightenment. Such icons were introduced to Japan from China by the monk Kukai in the ninth century, and they were used in ceremonies to bless and protect the nation.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
