Zaō Gongen, the protector deity of the sacred Mount Kinpu in Nara (where this mirror was excavated), is considered the local Shinto manifestation of three Buddhist divinities as well as one of the most important deities of the Japanese religious mountain practice shugendō. Always depicted in a dynamic posture full of energy and vitality, the three-eyed Zaō here holds a vajra (thunderbolt) in his right hand and stands with his right foot raised.
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Artwork Details
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蔵王権現鏡像（金峯山経塚出土）
Title:Mirror with Zaō Gongen
Period:Heian period (794–1185)
Date:11th–12th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Bronze with hairline engraving
Dimensions:Diam. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm); D. 5/8 in. (1.6 cm)
Classification:Mirrors
Credit Line:The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
Object Number:1975.268.156
[ Harry G. C. Packard American, Tokyo, until 1975; donated and sold to MMA].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "No Ordinary Mortals: The Human and Not-So-Human Figure in Japanese Art," November 1, 1996–October 5, 1997.
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan," August 19, 2000–February 5, 2001.
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japan: A History of Style," March 8, 2021–April 24, 2022.
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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
