Mandala of Both Worlds: Womb World
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This mandala is one of a pair of mandalas that forms a Mandala of Both Worlds, a representation of the Buddhist cosmos as explained in two sacred esoteric texts originating in southwest India. Kūkai (774–835), a Japanese monk and founder of the Shingon School of Buddhism, encountered the Mandala of Both Worlds while studying in China with the monk Huiguo (746–805) of the Zhenyan School. This mandala and its mate, however, demonstrate iconographical inflections characteristic of the Mandalas of Both Worlds created within the Tendai School, founded by the Japanese monk Saichō (767–822), who also trained in China.
Artwork Details
- Title: Mandala of Both Worlds: Womb World
- Period: Kamakura period (1185–1333)
- Date: 13th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
- Dimensions: Overall: 84 1/2 x 50 1/8 in. (214.7 x 127.3 cm)
Image: 46 11/16 x 38 7/8 in. (118.6 x 98.7 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by the Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art