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Miroku Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Maitreya) in Welcoming Descent

Inscription by Emperor Fushimi Japanese
early 14th century
Not on view
In the 1300s in Japan, most people believed they lived in the End Times (mappō), during which Buddhist teachings could not be taught or heard, and calamities were more severe and frequent. This image shows the widely worshipped deity Miroku, a benevolent bodhisattva, who, according to scripture, resides in the same cosmic realm from which the historical Buddha came to this world. One day Miroku will be reborn here as the next Buddha, bringing about an age of spiritual renewal.

For this image of Miroku, the painter used the most brilliant, and costly, materials available: green malachite, blue azurite, and multiple types of gold on finest silk. To describe the robes and halo, he applied countless impossibly tiny strips of cut gold leaf, a technique called kirikane that is a hallmark of Japanese Buddhist paintings of this period.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 弥勒菩薩来迎図
  • Title: Miroku Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Maitreya) in Welcoming Descent
  • Artist: Painting by Unidentified artist
  • Artist: Inscription by Emperor Fushimi (Japanese, 1265–1317; reigned 1287–98))
  • Period: Kamakura period (1185–1333
  • Date: early 14th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, cut gold leaf (kirikane) on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 33 3/8 × 14 1/8 in. (84.8 × 35.9 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 66 1/2 × 19 1/2 in. (168.9 × 49.5 cm)
    Overall with knobs: 66 1/2 × 21 1/2 in. (168.9 × 54.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Sebastian Izzard, in memory of Miki Aoyagi-Izzard, 2024
  • Object Number: 2024.554
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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