Niu Myōjin
The female Shinto deity of Mount Kōya, Niu Myōjin, is believed to have given Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi, 774–835) permission to build his monastery for Esoteric Buddhist training at Mount Kōya in 816.
Here she is shown seated on a tatami mat wearing elaborately layered robes and with the long, flowing hair of a court lady. In the disk at the top of the painting, the deity is represented again by the seed syllable (a sacred Sanskrit character) referring to her original Buddhist form (honji) as Dainichi Nyorai (Sanskrit: Mahāvairocana), the central Buddha of the Esoteric Buddhist cosmos. A painting of Niu Myōjin such as this is usually paired with one of Kariba Myōjin, the male deity of Mount Kōya.
Here she is shown seated on a tatami mat wearing elaborately layered robes and with the long, flowing hair of a court lady. In the disk at the top of the painting, the deity is represented again by the seed syllable (a sacred Sanskrit character) referring to her original Buddhist form (honji) as Dainichi Nyorai (Sanskrit: Mahāvairocana), the central Buddha of the Esoteric Buddhist cosmos. A painting of Niu Myōjin such as this is usually paired with one of Kariba Myōjin, the male deity of Mount Kōya.
Artwork Details
- 丹生明神像
- Title: Niu Myōjin
- Period: Kamakura period (1185–1333)
- Date: early 14th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 32 5/8 × 14 7/16 in. (82.9 × 36.7 cm)
Overall with mounting: 66 9/16 × 20 in. (169 × 50.8 cm)
Overall with knobs: 66 9/16 × 21 3/4 in. (169 × 55.3 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
- Object Number: 2015.300.14
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Japan
14th century
Unidentified artist
ca. 1383
Musō Soseki
early to mid-14th century
Monk Saigyō
late 12th century
Fujiwara no Yukinari (Kōzei)
11th century
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