Buddha Amitabha Descending from his Pure Land

Unidentified artist

Not on view

This painting shows the Buddha Amitabha (or Amida, in Japanese) descending from his Pure Land to welcome the soul of a recently deceased individual into his paradise. Amida is one of several Buddhas who create and maintain such realms, and paintings of the deity (either alone or attended by bodhisattvas) were among the most widely produced images in China from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. Created in the Chinese city of Ningbo and later brought to Japan, this work became associated with Zhang Sigong, an enigmatic painter to whom many Chinese Buddhist images are attributed. An almost identical Buddha appears in a well-known set of Chinese paintings of Five Hundred Arhats created in Ningbo in 1178 and worshipped at the Zen temple Daitokuji in Kyoto.

On view for rotation 2 only.

Buddha Amitabha Descending from his Pure Land, Unidentified artist , active 13th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China

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Buddha Amitabha Descending from his Pure Land, Unidentified artist , active 13th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China
Buddha Amitabha Descending from his Pure Land, Unidentified artist , active 13th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China
Buddha Amitabha Descending from his Pure Land, Unidentified artist , active 13th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China
Buddha Amitabha Descending from his Pure Land, Unidentified artist , active 13th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China
Buddha Amitabha Descending from his Pure Land, Unidentified artist , active 13th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China

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