Harvard Art Museums > 2019.122.7: Small Seated Image of Rãgavidyiarãja (Japanese: Aizen Myōō) Sculpture Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Small Seated Image of Rãgavidyiarãja (Japanese: Aizen Myōō) , 2019.122.7,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Oct 30, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/199867. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text With his bright red skin, white fangs, multiple arms, flaming hair, and lion’s head crown, Aizen Myōō embodies the Cosmic Buddha’s wrath against evil spirits. Its placement inside the sculpture of Prince Shōtoku is an important indicator of the cultic identity of the people who commissioned and venerated it. The reformist monk Eison (1201–1290) is credited with warding off two attempted invasions of Japan by the Mongols with nation-saving rituals to Aizen. Eison championed a movement known as Shingon-Ritsu, which called for a return to the proper observation of monastic rules for living, including the establishment of nunneries. His personal icon, a modestly sized sculpture of Aizen, remains at his temple of Saidaiji, in Nara, to this day. Identification and Creation Object Number 2019.122.7 Title Small Seated Image of Rãgavidyiarãja (Japanese: Aizen Myōō) Other Titles Transliterated Title: Aizen Myōō Classification Sculpture Work Type figurine, sculpture Date Kamakura period, datable to circa 1292 Places Creation Place: East Asia, Japan Period Kamakura period, 1185-1333 Culture Japanese Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/199867 Physical Descriptions Medium Wood with polychromy Dimensions H. 10.1 cm (4 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Yamanaka Shoji Co., Ltd, Awata Kyoto (1936)], sold; to Ellery Sedgwick, Beverly, MA, (1936-1960), passed; to his wife, Marjorie Russell, Beverly, MA (1960-1971), inherited; by Ellery Sedgwick, Jr., Gates Mills, Ohio, (1971-1991), inherited; by Walter Sedgwick, Woodside, CA, (1991-2019), partial and promised gift; to the Harvard Art Museums. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Partial and promised gift of Walter C. Sedgwick in memory of Ellery Sedgwick Sr. and Ellery Sedgwick Jr. Object Number 2019.122.7 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History John M. Rosenfield, The Sedgwick Statue of the Infant Shotoku Taishi, Archives of Asian Art (1968-1969), Vol. XXII / pp. 56-79, Fig. 7 / p. 62 (Item I / pp. 62-63) Keizaburō Mizuno, ed., Nihon chōkokushi kiso shiryō shūsei (Compendium of the History of Japanese Sculpture), Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan (Tokyo, 2019) Rachel Saunders, “Hābādo Daigaku Bijutsukan shozō Shōtoku Taishi nisai zō ni komerareta imi” (Interpreting the Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku at Age Two at the Harvard Art Museums), Zōkei no poetika: Nihon bijutsushi o meguru aratana chihei (The Poetics of Form: New Horizons in Japanese Art History), ed. Sano Midori Festschrift Committee, Seikansha (Tokyo, 2021), pp, 71-86 Rachel Saunders, Angela Chang, Penley Knipe, and H. Greg Lin, “Hābādo Bijutsukan shozō Namu Butsu Taishi zō: kyōdō kenkyū to sono seika” (When Art Meets Science: Interdisciplinary Research and Prince Shōtoku at Age Two at the Harvard Art Museums), Hābādo Bijutsukan Namu Butsu Taishi zō no kenkyū, Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan (Tokyo, 2023), pp. 191-235 Mika Abé, Yasurō Abé, Kensuke Chikamoto, Rachel Saunders, Ai Seya, and Takayuki Seya, ed., Hābādo Bijutsukan Namu Butsu Taishi zō no kenkyū (The Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku at Age Two at the Harvard Art Museums), Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan (Tokyo, 2023) 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 Paragons of Wisdom and Virtue: East Asian Figure Painting, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/15/1997 - 09/21/1997 Prince Shōtoku: The Secrets Within, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/25/2019 - 08/11/2019 Related Works 2019.122 Prince Shōtoku at Age Two (Shōtoku Taishi Nisaizō) Sculpture 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