Paradise of Amida Buddha (Amitabha)
date: label: Date
content: 794-1185
label: Period
content: Heian period
name: label: Artist
content: Kasuga Kaishi
notes: label: Label
content: Devotion to Amida Buddha within Japanese Buddhism reached a crescendo late in the Heian period (794-1185) and continued through the Kamakura period (1185-1333). Amida's Western Paradise was central to the iconography of Amidist cults, and most specifically to Pure Land Buddhism. Images of the Western Paradise were symmetrically-conceived views of paradisiacal court architecture and gardens populated by deities and souls recently arrived from the earth. Related images, called raigozu, show Amida Buddha, attendant bodhisattvas (enlightened beings) Seishi and Kannon, and sometimes additional retinue, descending to earth to greet a soon-to-expire believer.
label: Label
content: This exceptionally rare painting--only one other like it is known--eschews the common symmetrical format and offers a diagonal composition. The narrative reads from the upper right corner to the center pavilion and then to the lower right and shows a repeated image of Amida and attendants first returning on a cloud with a recently deceased soul, then formally seated in the pavilion, and finally departing on another mission to earth to welcome another soul into paradise.
label: Provenance
content: To 1904
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, to 1904 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1904 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1904 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. Also see Original Kakemono List, pg. 90, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Words of Wisdom: Buddhist Calligraphy from Japan (April 1, 2023 to February 25, 2024)
label: Exhibition History
content: Moonlight and Clouds: Silver and Gold in the Arts of Japan (November 11, 2008 to November 11, 2009)
label: Exhibition History
content: Religious Art of Japan (December 18, 2002 to January 4, 2015)
label: Exhibition History
content: Telling Tales in Japanese Art (November 23, 1996 to August 14, 1997)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art (January 1, 1963 to July 1, 1966)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Paintings (October 25, 1955 to November 23, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Art (October 3, 1947 to February 25, 1956)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Hanging Scrolls, Ceramics, and Sculpture (October 2, 1947 to January 23, 1951)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Ceramics and Painting (May 2, 1946 to October 2, 1947)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Paintings Buddhist Etc. (January 5, 1928 to December 8, 1941)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Paintings and Sculpture (May 2, 1923 to January 5, 1928)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: Heian period (794 - 1185)
label: Topic
content: Amitabha Buddha
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: apsara
label: Topic
content: Pure Land Buddhism
label: Topic
content: kakemono
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
label: Topic
content: Pure Land
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1904.112
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Color and gold on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 109.6 x 55.4 cm (43 1/8 x 21 13/16 in)