愛染曼荼羅図像 (Aizen mandara zuzō)|Iconographical Drawing of the Mandala of the Wisdom King Aizen

Unknown

Kashō 2 (1107) · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

This drawing describes a mandala used in ritual to prevent disaster and increase happiness. Fierce and angry at center, the Wisdom King Aizen is joined by three bodhisattvas, identifiable by their circular body haloes, and three other Wisdom Kings, each wrathful like Aizen and surrounded by flames and carrying weapons. The monk who transcribed this scroll in 1107 at the temple Shōren’in in Kyoto left indications of which colors, white or red, were to be used for the flesh of several of the deities. Though not noted, blue was conventionally employed for the Wisdom Kings at lower left and right.

Artist

Unknown

Date

Kashō 2 (1107)

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

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