Guardian Figure (one of the four Shitenno figure)

22.1147

Guardian Figure (one of the four Shitenno figure)

22.1147

Description

Artist: Fukuji

The figure shown here is one of the four Shitenno (guardian/ heavenly) figures of paradise. He is responsible for the protection of one of the four cardinal directions in a Buddhist monastery. Each figure stands on a demon symbolizing the victory over the evil, that is the victory of the Buddhist law. It must have been protecting the central Buddhist figure. Glaring and blazing, he is armoured and stands in a highly animated form that came to become part of Japanese art from the medieval period. This figure from the CSMVS is not identified. The iconography however suggests that he could be the protector of the south. The exhibit is signed and bears an inscription stating that it was made by a great priest sculptor Fukuji during the Enpo period in Omiya (Kyoto).

Sir Ratan Tata Art Collection.

Collection

Japanese Art

Object Type

Sculpture

Material

Polychrome wood

Schools/Culture/Period

Edō period

Technique

Date

1679 CE

Location

Kyoto (?), Japan