白描印相図巻|Scroll of Mudras

Unknown

11th–12th century · Handscroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

This handscroll depicts hand gestures known as mudras in Sanskrit, the Indian language in which many early Esoteric Buddhist texts were written. In Japan the gestures are called insō, the Japanese term for a Chinese word that combines the characters for "seal" and "form." In Esoteric Buddhism mudras are physical enactments of ultimate truths revealed through the Buddhas and other deities. Practitioners of Esoteric Buddhism in Japan form mudras during meditation and rituals and use them to interpret the meaning of painted and sculpted Buddhist images. These scrolls were passed down in the Kyoto temple Shōren-in, a Tendai School temple traditionally administrated by imperial princes who had taken religious vows.

Artist

Unknown

Date

11th–12th century

Medium

Handscroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japanf

Department

Asian Art

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