Bishamonten
These printed images of Bishamonten (Sanskrit: Vaishravana), the divine guardian of the north, were found inside a sculpture of the deity in the Jūrin'in subtemple of Nakagawadera, a temple northeast of Nara. To make the print, a block bearing a single image of Bishamonten was stamped a total of one thousand times.
According to inscriptions on sheets of the same print in other collections, the images were made as an offering to the deity during a ritual service. They were placed inside the statue on the seventh day of the third month in 1162.
According to inscriptions on sheets of the same print in other collections, the images were made as an offering to the deity during a ritual service. They were placed inside the statue on the seventh day of the third month in 1162.
Artwork Details
- Title: Bishamonten
- Period: Heian period (794–1185)
- Date: 1162
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Woodblock print; ink on paper
- Dimensions: 8 1/2 x 5 5/16 in. (21.6 x 13.5 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.268.31
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Unidentified
15th–16th century
China
dated 1282
Monk Saigyō
late 12th century
Japan
1278
Musō Soseki
early to mid-14th century
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