Ōtsu-e of Thirteen Buddhist Deities
Not on view
The image of Thirteen Buddhist Deities was hung for memorials for the deceased held at fixed intervals over the days and years after death. Originally, a series of paintings depicting the deities individually was used, but this image combines them into one icon that could be employed repeatedly by less affluent families. The deities’ halos and mandorlas are woodblock printed with the same block, while a limited number of different blocks were used to give a measure of variety to the faces. The same block, for example, used for the head of the bodhisattva Jizō (Sanskrit: Kshitigarbha) was used for that of the King of Brightness, Fudō (Sanskrit: Achala) such that the latter loses his typically fierce countenance.
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