Aizen Myōō is a wrathful deity, as suggested by his fearsome expression, his red skin, the bow and arrow he holds in two of his six hands, and the roaring lion’s head he wears as a crown. Aizen—the two characters of whose name mean, literally, “dyed in love”—is, in fact, a force for good in Esoteric Buddhism. Practitioners pray to him to transform human desires, especially sexual ones, into powerful spiritual energy that, through ritual, can be harnessed to help them escape suffering. Backed by a variegated halo within an orb of red flames, the deity sits atop a multitiered lotus pedestal that hovers above delicately swirling gold clouds and is decorated with an image of dragons emerging over a rough sea. Aizen is surrounded by a proliferation of red, blue, green, and white wish-fulfilling jewels (hōju), a sign of this deity’s devotion to the needs of the faithful.
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Artwork Details
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愛染明王像
Title:The Wisdom King Aizen (Aizen Myōō)
Period:Nanbokuchō period (1336–92)
Date:14th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and cut gold leaf (kirikane) on silk
Dimensions:Image: 53 × 32 1/4 in. (134.6 × 81.9 cm) Overall with mounting: 88 × 39 1/4 in. (223.5 × 99.7 cm) Overall with knobs: 88 × 42 1/8 in. (223.5 × 107 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, Mary Griggs Burke Gift, 1966
Object Number:66.90
Marking: Seal: on reverse, Japanese characters in red
Mary Griggs Burke , New York (until at least 1965); [ Setsu Gatōdō Co., Ltd. , Tokyo, until 1966; sold to MMA]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 14, 1970–June 1, 1971.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
New York. Asia Society. "Journey of the Three Jewels: Japanese Buddhist Paintings from Western Collections," October 11, 1979–December 9, 1979.
New York. Asia House Gallery. "Masterworks of Japanese Buddhist Paintings from Western Collections," October 11, 1979–December 9, 1979.
Denver Art Museum. "Masterworks of Japanese Buddhist Paintings from Western Collections," March 27, 1980–May 11, 1980.
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.
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. "The Mighty Kano School: Orthodoxy and Iconoclasm," December 18, 2004–June 5, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Autumn and Winter," June 22–September 10, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Animals, Birds, Insects, and Marine Life in Japanese Art," June 26–November 30, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Mandalas: Emanations and Avatars," June 18–November 30, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art," April 8, 2023–July 14, 2024.
Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. Exh. cat. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1970, pp. 37, 170, cat. no. 142.
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. 8, cat. no. 27.
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