春日若宮曼荼羅|Mandala of Wakamiya of Kasuga Shrine (Kasuga wakamiya mandara)

Unknown

early 14th century · Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and cut gold on silk · Asian Art

Seated on a pink and white lotus blossom and enclosed in a golden disc, Ame no oshikumone, the deity of Wakamiya Shrine at Kasuga, floats ethereally through space. Placed within the visual framework of a Buddhist deity and attired in the clothing of a noble youth, he holds a sword with his right hand, an allusion to his Buddhist counterpart Monju (Sanskrit: Manjushri), the bodhisattva of wisdom, whose attributes include a sword with which to cut through the illusions of the unenlightened mind. Monju is often depicted as a youthful figure, a visual reflection of his purified wisdom. A wakamiya, or “young shrine,” is a type of subsidiary shrine usually dedicated to the child of a deity venerated in the shrine’s principal sanctuary and symbolizes youthfulness and rejuvenation.

Artist

Unknown

Date

early 14th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and cut gold on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1997, and Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015