清滝権現像|Seiryū Gongen

Unknown

mid-14th century · Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

Seiryū Gongen is a female deity who protects Daigoji, a Shingon-sect Esoteric Buddhist temple in south Kyoto. Seiryū can be written with different Chinese characters, meaning either “pure waterfall” or “blue dragon”—a nod to her scriptural origins as the third daughter of the Dragon King, Shagara, who is associated with the sea and rainmaking. Based on an earlier painting once owned by Daigoji, this work shows her holding a wish-fulfilling jewel. Having just opened a sliding door, she looks down at a small girl holding a book. According to an inscription on the earlier work, the picture illustrates the dream vision of a certain Daigoji monk who described having seen the goddess deliver to a young girl teachings on Buddhist herbal medicine.

Artist

Unknown

Date

mid-14th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

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