Concise Illustrated Biography of Monk Nichiren: Calming the Stormy Sea at Tsunoda in Exile to Sado Island

1835–36

Not on view

The story of the life of Nichiren (1222–1282), the iconoclastic founder of the sect of Buddhism that bears his name, has inspired legions of his followers to the present day. Kuniyoshi’s series of prints captures the dramatic moments of the priest’s biography, including this scene of a vision of the sect’s main devotion, the invocation “Praise to the Sutra of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma [Namu Myōhō Renge Kyo],” in the ocean waves as Nichiren travels to exile in 1272.

Artwork Details

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Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

歌川国芳画　「高祖御一代略図　佐州流刑角田波題目」
Title: Concise Illustrated Biography of Monk Nichiren: Calming the Stormy Sea at Tsunoda in Exile to Sado Island
Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1835–36
Culture: Japan
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 8 7/8 x 13 3/4 in. (22.5 x 34.9 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939
Object Number: JP2860
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Women Near a River, Utagawa Kuniyoshi Japanese, Triptych of woodblock prints; ink, silver, and color on paper, Japan — Women Near a River
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Boys Play-acting a Daimyo Procession, Utagawa Kuniyoshi Japanese, Pentaptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper, Japan — Boys Play-acting a Daimyo Procession
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Travelling in a Snowstorm, Utagawa Kuniyoshi Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Travelling in a Snowstorm
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Two Brothers Zhang Xiao and Zhang Li, Utagawa Kuniyoshi Japanese, Woodblock print; ink on thin paper, Japan — Two Brothers Zhang Xiao and Zhang Li
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