Ink and color on paperexpand_more
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundationexpand_more 2015.79.19.2
An array of Buddhist deities was introduced to Japan from China and Korea in the 700s. The complexity of their identities, attributes, and symbols required the compilation of drawings that systematically illustrated their appropriate postures, implements, and hand gestures. Painters, sculptors, and other artists used the drawings as guides when they created new icons. This handscroll, made by a Buddhist priest in the 1200s, shows many variations of the compassionate deity Kannon. The bronze statue of Kannon displayed here is identical to one of the sketches on the handscroll—evidence that the artist referred to a drawing similar to this one.
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