- 絹本著色十一面観音像
- 1 hanging scroll
- Ink and colors on silk
- H 169.0, W 90.0
- Heian period/12th century
- Nara National Museum
- 1176(絵217)
The Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva Kannon (J. Jūichimen Kannon; Skt. Ekādaśamukha-avalokiteśvara) is shown here turned slightly to the viewer’s left. Held in front of the knee, the deity’s right hand is making the wish-granting mudra and has prayer beads around the wrist. The left hand is holding a vase containing a red lotus flower. The 11 heads over the figure’s main head include three with serene, bodhisattva-like faces, three with wrathful expressions, three with fangs protruding upward, one laughing face, and at the very top, the face of a buddha. This iconography is based on the Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva Kannon’s description in the Heart Dharani Sutra of the Eleven-Headed Kannon (J. Jūichimen shinju shin kyō; Ch. Shiyi mian shenzhou xin jing) translated into Chinese by the monk Xuanzang (602–664), during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The work is unusual in that, unlike esoteric images in which the deity faces directly forward, Kannon is turned slightly, suggesting the artist attempted to create a more natural rendering of space. Kannon is not seated in the formal lotus position either. The right leg is extended somewhat outward in a more relaxed posture. This pose, as well as the large floral canopy and mandorla with openwork-like ornamentation, suggest the painting is meant to stand in for an actual Buddhist sculpture. The body of the image is painted in a light pink hue outlined in red with heavy shading in red. The robes are decorated in ground patterns, main patterns, and additional varied motifs in delicate cut gold leaf. The bodhisattva’s dais and canopy are decorated in designs of gentian and bamboo leaves rendered in cut gold leaf and gradations of silver. This motif and that of the chrysanthemum medallions in cut gold leaf were likely recently introduced at the time from China’s Song dynasty (960–1279). The vase Kannon is holding is painted in silver; and its translucency allows the viewer to see the stem within, possibly depicting Song glassware. Sumptuous and splendid, these elements typify the elegant forms associated with Buddhist painting of the Heian period (794–1185). Until the early modern period, this work was preserved at Hokkiji Temple near Hōryūji Temple in Nara. Hōryūji owns remnants of Heian Buddhist paintings that display a similar use of heavy shading, and it is possible this painting was inspired by earlier murals found in the Kondō Hall of Hōryūji Temple.
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