id: 161027
accession number: 1999.262
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.262
updated: 2023-01-11 08:58:19.091000
Mandala of the Four Deities of Mt. Kōya, 1500s. Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573). Hanging scroll, ink, color and cut gold foil on silk; overall: 178.6 x 56.3 cm (70 5/16 x 22 3/16 in.); painting only: 97.5 x 39.3 cm (38 3/8 x 15 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Rosemarie and Leighton Longhi 1999.262
title: Mandala of the Four Deities of Mt. Kōya
title in original language: 高野四所明神像
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1500s
creation date earliest: 1500
creation date latest: 1573
current location:
creditline: Gift of Rosemarie and Leighton Longhi
copyright:
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culture: Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
technique: hanging scroll, ink, color and cut gold foil on silk
department: Japanese Art
collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
type: Painting
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 178.6 x 56.3 cm (70 5/16 x 22 3/16 in.); Painting only: 97.5 x 39.3 cm (38 3/8 x 15 1/2 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Shinto: Discovering the Divine in Japanese Art 神道-日本美術における神性の発見
opening date: 2019-04-09T04:00:00
Shinto: Discovering the Divine in Japanese Art 神道-日本美術における神性の発見. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 9-June 30, 2019).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
Rosemarie and Leighton R. Longhi, New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?-1999
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1999-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
The two kami, or deities, at the top of this painting are Kariba Myōjin and Niu Myōjin. They inhabit Mount Kōya and are described as son and mother. They are shown here as courtiers, with Kariba in Japanese-style court robes and Niu in robes modeled after court garments of the Tang dynasty. The two kami seated beneath are Kehi Myōjin, portrayed as a lady holding a whisk, and the youthful Miyajima Myōjin, with his hair drawn up in loops, playing a lute (biwa). Hōjō Masako (1157–1225), the wife of the first Kamakura shogun (leader) Minamoto Yoritomo (1147–1199), invited them to Mount Kōya.
wall description:
Upon his arrival in Japan, the 9th-century Buddhist priest Kukai began searching for a mountain location that would be suitable for a meditation hall. Along the way he met a Japanese hunter with two dogs who helped him find a site on Mount Koya. This building became the home of the influential Esoteric sect of Japanese Buddhism, and still flourishes today.
The male figure dressed in aristocratic garb at the upper left of this composition is the hunter, here deified as a spirit of Japan's pre-Buddhist, Shinto faith. He is joined by his wife and below by two female Shinto deities from other Shinto shrines in Japan. Beneath them, the black and white dogs refer to the hunter's role in the story. This joining of foreign Buddhist and native Shinto imagery represents an important aspect of Japanese cultural history.
The attractive gold "diaper" pattern in the lower portion of the painting represents the painted stone tiles of a religious building. The lines are thin strips of gold foil rather than paint applied with a handheld brush.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Vilbar, Sinéad, and Kevin Gray Carr. Shinto: Discovery of the Divine in Japanese Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 226-227, no. 87
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.262/1999.262_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.262/1999.262_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.262/1999.262_full.tif