DOI issue:
No. 299 (February 1918)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21356#0043
Studio- Talk
" FUGEN BOSATSU." PAINTED BY KANO-
TANNYU IN 1654
{Ho-ju-in, Koyasan)
female pilgrims were allowed on the mountain
at all, and only within the last few years have
they been permitted to live there.
Though successive conflagrations have de-
stroyed many of the temples and their treasures,
there still remain rare works of art of the olden
times. Indeed, Koyasan is a veritable store-
house of sacred art, and nearly a hundred
objects, comprising paintings, sculpture, swords,
and sutras, have been classed as " national
treasures " and placed under the supervision
of the central government. The proposed
museum will undoubtedly contain the most im-
portant collection of Buddhistic art in Japan.
To mention a few of the paintings that will
adorn the walls of the proposed museum—the
most important will be Nijugo Bosatsu, which is
now in the care of the Tokyo Imperial Museum,
where it is shown for about a month in the year.
It was originally in the Hieizan monastery
(near Kyoto) and is attributed to Eshin Sozu,
a celebrated Buddhist abbot who lived about
nine hundred years ago. Several noteworthy
paintings in the warehouse of the Miyei-do
will figure in the museum collection, such as
Zennyo Ryu-o attributed to Joki and said to
have a mysterious power of bringing rain
whenever it is hung; Dainichi Nyorai (the
personification of wisdom and absolute purit}'),
which though about six hundred years old is in
a perfect state of preservation and full of admir-
able qualities ; Aizen My0-0 (the god of love, but
with a fierce-looking face) ; Yakushi (the heal-
ing Buddha) attributed to Shikyo ; and Sakya-
muni with Eight Followers attributed to the
same artist, and a work of no common merit.
Among many paintings now kept in the ware-
house of the Hoju-in mention may be made of
Monju Bosatsu (the apotheosis of transcendental
wisdom) by Chinkai, and Jizo Bosatsu (the com-
passionate Buddhist helper of those who are in
trouble, the patron of travellers, of pregnant
women, and of children) by Yuyen, in both of
which the spiritual beauty of religious art is
manifested, and a set of three kakemono
painted and donated to the temple by Kano
Tannyu in 1654. Harada-Jiro.
" FUGEN BOSATSU." PAINTED BY KANO-
TANNYU IN 1654
{Ho-ju-in, Koyasan)
female pilgrims were allowed on the mountain
at all, and only within the last few years have
they been permitted to live there.
Though successive conflagrations have de-
stroyed many of the temples and their treasures,
there still remain rare works of art of the olden
times. Indeed, Koyasan is a veritable store-
house of sacred art, and nearly a hundred
objects, comprising paintings, sculpture, swords,
and sutras, have been classed as " national
treasures " and placed under the supervision
of the central government. The proposed
museum will undoubtedly contain the most im-
portant collection of Buddhistic art in Japan.
To mention a few of the paintings that will
adorn the walls of the proposed museum—the
most important will be Nijugo Bosatsu, which is
now in the care of the Tokyo Imperial Museum,
where it is shown for about a month in the year.
It was originally in the Hieizan monastery
(near Kyoto) and is attributed to Eshin Sozu,
a celebrated Buddhist abbot who lived about
nine hundred years ago. Several noteworthy
paintings in the warehouse of the Miyei-do
will figure in the museum collection, such as
Zennyo Ryu-o attributed to Joki and said to
have a mysterious power of bringing rain
whenever it is hung; Dainichi Nyorai (the
personification of wisdom and absolute purit}'),
which though about six hundred years old is in
a perfect state of preservation and full of admir-
able qualities ; Aizen My0-0 (the god of love, but
with a fierce-looking face) ; Yakushi (the heal-
ing Buddha) attributed to Shikyo ; and Sakya-
muni with Eight Followers attributed to the
same artist, and a work of no common merit.
Among many paintings now kept in the ware-
house of the Hoju-in mention may be made of
Monju Bosatsu (the apotheosis of transcendental
wisdom) by Chinkai, and Jizo Bosatsu (the com-
passionate Buddhist helper of those who are in
trouble, the patron of travellers, of pregnant
women, and of children) by Yuyen, in both of
which the spiritual beauty of religious art is
manifested, and a set of three kakemono
painted and donated to the temple by Kano
Tannyu in 1654. Harada-Jiro.