seated figure with purple, green, and gold robe over PL shoulder holds green jewel in PR hand, stroking it with PL hand; figure has large hoop earring, distended earlobe; exaggerated features, bald forehead; halo around figure; seated before tree with few green leaves and purple flowers; short figure with long fingernails and outstretched arms stands at seated figure's PL; chalice hanging from tree in front of Rakan

Ajita, the Fifteenth of the Sixteen Arhats, 1850

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Kano Kazunobu, a painter of the Kano school, received prestigious commissions from Buddhist temples. He was honored by the Imperial Court in 1856 for his talent and given the honorary title “Hokkyō” (Bridge of the Law). His work features Western techniques, such as foreshortening, along with traditional Buddhist motifs. The set of 16 “achievers” (rakan in Japanese, arhat in Sanskrit) to which these two examples belong is an important and rare precursor to his great masterpiece, Five Hundred Arhats, a set of 100 hanging scrolls commissioned by the Zōjōji Temple in Tokyo.

Details
Title
Ajita, the Fifteenth of the Sixteen Arhats
Artist Life
1816 - 1863
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2013.29.665.2
Curator Approved

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seated figure with purple, green, and gold robe over PL shoulder holds green jewel in PR hand, stroking it with PL hand; figure has large hoop earring, distended earlobe; exaggerated features, bald forehead; halo around figure; seated before tree with few green leaves and purple flowers; short figure with long fingernails and outstretched arms stands at seated figure's PL; chalice hanging from tree in front of Rakan