Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork

Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork

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Title: Jusan Butsu. The Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Circa 1500-1600. Late Muromachi Period Silk Painting of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Involved in the Judgments of the Underworld, Beautifully Painted in Heavy Detail, with Heavy Brushwork
Condition: Very Good

A Late Muromachi Period, 16th century silk painting depicting the assembly of the 'Thirteen Deities' of the Japanese Shingon School of Vajrayana Buddhism, depicting Thirteen Buddhas and Bodhisattvas amongst billowing clouds.

This example has been expertly painted, with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas depicted with their various vestments, blades, staves, and other items. The Bodhisattvas have been given more realistic skin tones, while the Buddhas themselves are painted in gold, and all thirteen deities have incredibly detailed, multilayered halos or mandorlas. Even the clouds themselves have been painted with heavily detailed layers of brushwork. An excellent, and well-preserved example of Buddhist Muromachi Period artistry.

The 13 Buddhas are those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas involved in the judgments of the underworld, which were conceived in Japan in the Muromachi Period based on the Chinese Ten Yama Kings and Ten Courts of Hell, the latter coming about from a loose combination of the Buddhist concept of Naraka, traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife, and a variety of popular expansions and reinterpretations of these two traditions.

The represented Buddhas preside over thirteen memorial services (from the seventh day to the thirty-third anniversary of death), and there is a tradition of displaying their paintings, mainly as hanging scrolls, at Buddhist memorial services and other Buddhist events. The thirteen Buddhas are the Ten Kings who are judges of the underworld, including King Enma, and Buddhas who are said to be the original incarnations of the judges who preside over the subsequent judgments (the seventh, thirteenth, and thirty-third anniversaries of death).

The thirteen depicted deities are as such:

1. Fudo Myoo (Acalanatha Vidyaraja) - seventh day. The 'Immovable Lord'
2. Shaka Nyorai (Shakyamuni Buddha) - fourteenth day. The Historical Buddha
3. Monju Bosatsu (Manjushri Bodhisattva) - twenty-first day. The Bodhisattva of Wisdom
4. Fugen Bosatsu (Samantabhadra Bodhisattva) - twenty-eighth day. The 'All-Good'
5. Jizo Bosatsu (Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva) - thirty-fifth day. The ‘Womb of the Earth'
6. Miroku Bosatsu (Maitreya Bodhisattva) - forty-second day. The embodiment of 'Loving Kindness'
7. Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaisajyaguru Buddha) - forty-ninth day. The 'Medicine Guru'
8. Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokiteśvara Buddha) - hundredth day. The Bodhisattva of Compassion
9. Seishi Bosatsu (Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva) - first anniversary. 'He who has attained great Strength'
10. Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Buddha) - second anniversary. The Buddha of 'Boundless Light'
11. Ashuku Nyorai (Akshobhya Buddha) - sixth anniversary. The 'Immutable One'
12. Dainichi Nyorai (Vairocana Buddha) - twelfth anniversary. The 'Illuminator'
13. Kokuzu Bosatu (Akasagarbha Bodhisattva) - thirty-second anniversary. The 'Womb or Sphere of Space'

Compare this example to the dated 16th century example held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, item 122059), where the stylistic depictions are similar in placement and style.

The painting has been neatly mounted onto a brocade decorated kakejiku (hanging scroll), with jikusaki (knobs) made of brass. There is a wooden box to accompany it, preserving the scroll.

One silk painting mounted on a kakejiku (hanging scroll), 175 x 50.5 cm full size, 92 x 33.5 cm main painting

This painting is in very good shape, with minor wear and slight splitting to some of the silk paintwork. Despite its age, the painting is surprisingly well preserved.

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