“He’s like the bouncer of Buddhism.”
Curator Sinéad Vilbar on the twelfth-century statue of Fudō Myōō, a Buddhist deity whose name means “immovable.”
Stubborn
Sinéad Vilbar
2 min. watch
Contributors
Sinéad Vilbar
Assistant Curator, Department of Asian Art
Assistant Curator, Department of Asian Art
Photography by Paul Lachenauer
Art Mentioned
Japan
12th century
More from The Met
This small plaque of Mark the Evangelist, represented by a lion holding a book between its wings, stands for many stories that illustrate facets of medieval Christian faith.
Guadalupe Nettel
October 8
An encounter with an ancient devotional figure reminds us that images can stand in for people.
Adam Eaker
October 6
A roundtable discussion explores gender presentation, the history of fashion, and mockery in medieval depictions of Saint Jerome.
Nancy Thebaut, Jesse Darling, Ayla Lepine, and Clovis Maillet
March 24
More in:Religion and Spirituality