- Gallery Text
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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
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- 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
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- Medium
- Wood with polychromy
- Dimensions
- H. 10.1 cm (4 in.)
- Provenance
- [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
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- 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
- 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
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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)
- Exhibition History
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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
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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