Title: Amida Sanzonbutsu (Welcoming Descent of the Amida Buddha Triad), Circa 1250-1350. A Rare and Well-Preserved Illuminated Painting of Amida Nyorai, Kannon and Seishi Bodhisattva
Condition: Very Good
A Late Kamakura to Early Muromachi Period, 13th to 14th century painting depicting the Welcoming Descent of the Amida Buddha Triad, featuring a central figure of the Amida Nyorai, flanked on either side by Kannon Bodhisattva on the left and Seishi Bodhisattva on the right.
The painting has been beautifully produced, the Bodhisattvas produced fully in gold, and much of the golden silk still shining despite age and wear.
The Bodhisattvas serve as attendants at the forefront sweeping to earth on a bank of silvery clouds. They have arrived to "welcome" a dying devotee into the Pure Land (Western Paradise) over which Amida Buddha presides. It is based on the Sutra of Immeasurable Life and the Sutra of Contemplation of Immeasurable Life. Kannon Bodhisattva is the incarnation of Amida Nyorai's "compassion," while Seishi Bodhisattva is the incarnation of "wisdom." Kannon Bodhisattva, the attendant, represents Amida's kebutsu (a Buddha transformed into a Buddha) in front of the topknot on top of his head, and Seishi Bodhisattva represents a water jar in the same position, so the two attendants are relatively easy to distinguish from each other. Raigo or "welcoming descent" paintings of this kind became popular during the late Heian (eleventh through twelfth centuries) and Kamakura (1185-1333) periods, with numerous copies made through later periods.
The raigō theme, first originating in China, was introduced to Japan by the monk Ennin (794-864) in the ninth century and made popular with the teachings of the monk Genshin (942-1017) during the eleventh century.
Similar paintings are preserved in several museum collections, including an example in Kyoto National Museum, illustrated on http://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/43871. See also a hanging scroll of Amida Buddha flanked by two Bodhisattvas in the Carl Otto von Kienbusch, Jr., Memorial Collection of Princeton University Art Museum, published in Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections, Princeton, 2013, p. 43, accession no. y1952-59.
The painting has been neatly mounted onto a brocade decorated kakejiku (hanging scroll), with jikusaki (knobs) made of brass.
One painting mounted on a kakejiku (hanging scroll), 128 x 40.5 cm full size, 47 x 26.7 cm main painting
This painting is in very good shape, with some of the gold having dulled or whitened. Some of the silk fabric to the rear has frayed and come undone.