Buddha Amitābha with Two Attending Bodhisattvas

Description

The supreme deities that rule over the Western Paradise—Amitābha (阿彌陀 in Chinese), Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin 觀音), and Mahāsthāmaprāpta (Dashizhi 大勢至)—are here enclosed within a circle of light. To secure entry into that paradise for Buddhist followers of the Pure Land sect, one must recite the phrase namo amituofo (南無阿彌陀佛, Homage to the Buddha Amitābha). Here the phrase is repeated 10 times in calligraphy above the figures, reinforcing the need for continual recitation.

Provenance

(Nakanishi Bunzo, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1974); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1974–)

Buddha Amitābha with Two Attending Bodhisattvas

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1200s

Accession Number

1974.35

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Dimensions

Painting: 134 x 79.7 cm (52 3/4 x 31 3/8 in.); Overall with knobs: 224.5 x 101.5 cm (88 3/8 x 39 15/16 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund