The frontispiece of this scroll of the “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sutra depicts the eight-year-old daughter of the Dragon King emerging from her palace beneath the sea to offer a precious, radiant jewel to the Buddha on Eagle Peak. Famous for achieving instantaneous Buddhahood, the Dragon Girl became an inspiring symbol of female salvation in Murasaki’s day. Allusions to episodes from the Lotus Sutra appear throughout The Tale of Genji.
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Artwork Details
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『妙法蓮華経』 「提婆達多品第十二」
Title:“Devadatta,” Chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra (Hoke-kyō, Daibadatta-bon)
Period:Heian period (794–1185)
Date:12th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Handscroll; gold and silver on indigo-dyed paper
Dimensions:10 1/16 in. x 33 ft. (25.6 x 1005.8 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Seymour Fund, 1965
Accession Number:65.216.1
Inscription: On panel, reverse: Myōhōrengekyō kan dai go (the lotus sutra, scroll no. 5)
[ Yamanaka & Co. , Osaka, Japan, until 1965; sold to MMA].
New York. Asia House Gallery. "The Arts of Medieval Japan: the Heian Period: 794-1185," October 5, 1967–December 17, 1967.
Cambridge. Fogg Museum, Harvard Art Museums. "The Arts of Medieval Japan: the Heian Period: 794-1185," January 17, 1968–February 25, 1968.
New York. Asia Society. "The Image and the Word: Buddhist Manuscript Illuminations," April 9, 1987–June 7, 1987.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Seasonal Pleasures in Japanese Art (Part One)," October 12, 1995–April 28, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan," 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Blossoms of Many Colors: A Selection from the Permanent Collection of Japanese Art," March 21–August 9, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Enlightening Pursuits," February 28–August 5, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Birds, Flowers, and Buddhist Paradise Imagery in Japanese Art," February 14–June 13, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," July 2–November 29, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Spring and Summer," December 17, 2005–June 4, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Poetry and Travel in Japanese Art," December 18, 2008–May 31, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan Galleries," February 2–July 28, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Discovering Japanese Art: American Collectors and the Met," February 14 - September 27, 2015.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated," March 5–June 16, 2019.
Tokyo Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo 東京国立文化財研究所, ed. Nyūyōku Metoroporitan Bijutsukan, kaiga, chōkoku ニューヨークメトロポリタン美術館,絵画・彫刻 (Painting and sculpture of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) Kaigai shozai Nihon bijutsuhin chōsa hōkoku 海外所在日本美術品調查報告 (Catalogue of Japanese art in foreign collections) 1. Tokyo: Kobunkazai Kagaku Kenkyūkai, 1991, p. 17, cat. no. 49.2.
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