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A wooden sculpture of a man standing on a small pedestal and holding a staff. His hips are leaned to his left and he is wearing armor and a helmet.

The wooden sculpture is of a man standing on a small organic-shaped pedestal and facing the viewer. He is dark brown in color with spots of yellow and red. He is wide and built in stature and his hips are leaned to his left with his right hand on his hip. His left hand is bent up and is holding a long, thin staff with a star-shaped point at the top. He is wearing armor that covers his legs, hips, torso, and arms. There is draped fabric coming out from his sleeves and hip armor. There is a small, angry face on his torso armor. He is wearing a helmet on his head.

Gallery Text

Crafted for Japanese Buddhist image halls of the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura (1185–1333) periods, the objects in this case were once part of magnificent architectural and sculptural ensembles intended to render the Western Pure Land of the Buddha Amitabha physically present in our earthly realm. To be reborn in the Western Pure Land guaranteed the attainment of awakening; the splendors of this distant land were evoked with gleaming, gilded sculptures of Amitabha and his heavenly entourage, including bodhisattvas and angel-like apsarases. Icons of Amitabha were further canopied with stylized flower garlands in gilt bronze.

This period saw the rise to prominence of wooden statuary, which came to surpass bronze as the main material for Japanese Buddhist sculptures thereafter. Placed within the magnificent settings of image halls, Buddhist sculptures themselves became increasingly decorative and included the extensive use of brilliant polychromy; cut-gold leaf patterning (called kirikane) in the drapery; and metal adornments for crowns, headdresses, and accessories. Despite the richness of their robes and settings, the idealized facial expressions of the figures are serene and introspective — characteristics that reflect the aesthetic ideals of the statues’ courtly patrons.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
124.1979
Title
Virūdhaka (Zōchōten), Guardian King of the South, one of the Devarājas (Shitennō), or Four Heavenly Guardian Kings
Other Titles
Transliterated Title: Shitennō (Devarājas): Zōchōten (Virūdhaka)
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, figure
Date
Heian period, c. 1075
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, Japan
Period
Heian period, Late, 898-1185
Culture
Japanese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/210620

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2740, Buddhist Art, The Efflorescence of East Asian and Buddhist Art
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Wood with traces of polychromy and gilding
Dimensions
H. 69.7 x W. 30.4 x D. 15.5 cm (27 7/16 x 11 15/16 x 6 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[James Freeman, Kyoto] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick, Woodside, CA (by 1979), promised gift; to Harvard University Museums, 1979.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Promised gift of Walter C. Sedgwick in memory of Elizabeth Sedgwick and Marjorie Sedgwick
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
124.1979
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Dorinda Neave, Lara Blanchard, and Marika Sardar, Asian Art, Pearson Education, Inc. (Boston, MA, 2015), p. 329, ill. 14-6

Exhibition History

  • Later Chinese and Japanese Figure Painting in Decorative Arts, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/22/1992 - 06/07/1992
  • Japanese Art of the Heian Period (794-1185), Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 06/06/2002 - 07/05/2002
  • 32Q: 2740 Buddhist II, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu