Untitled

Kōno Bairei 幸野楳嶺

late 19th century · Pair of hanging scrolls; ink, color, and gold on silk · Asian Art

Kōno Bairei juxtaposes two images at the heart of modern Japan’s most prominent belief systems, Shinto and Buddhism. At right is Amaterasu, the Shinto Sun Goddess who, after bringing total darkness to heaven and earth by shutting herself in a cave, has to be lured out by her own reflection to restore light and life to the world. At left is the Buddha’s final death, or parinirvana, depicted in gold paint on a dark black ground. Though Buddhism and Shinto (as well as other faiths) were in dialogue throughout the premodern history of Japan, in the 1870s, the newly reinstalled imperial government sought to clarify—and separate—them. Also, government efforts at modern nation-building led to the development of nationalized arts education. Kōno Bairei helped establish and taught at Japan’s first public university devoted to the study of art.

Artist

Kōno Bairei 幸野楳嶺

Date

late 19th century

Medium

Pair of hanging scrolls; ink, color, and gold on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015