News Release Celebrating the Arts of Japan: the Mary Griggs Burke
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News Release The Metropolitan Museum of Art Communications Department 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028-0198 tel (212) 570-3951 fax (212) 472-2764 [email protected] Contact: Elyse Topalian Naomi Takafuchi Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection October 20, 2015–July 31, 2016 EXHIBITION CHECKLIST WITH LABELS Gallery 223, Case 01 1. 男神坐像・女神坐像 Male and Female Shinto Deities Japan, Heian period (ca. 900–1185), 10th century Japanese cypress with traces of color H. 20 5/8 in. (52.4 cm) Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 2015.300.256a, b This pair of Shinto deities is represented in human form, wearing Heian court dress to suggest sacred and secular authority. These figures were likely produced in connection with the ancient court practice of honoring the spirit ancestors of aristocratic families as a reward for their political and cultural contributions. The square faces, stout bodies, and deeply carved robes resemble the stylized rendering of early Heian-period Buddhist sculpture. 10/16/2015 1 Gallery 223, Case 01 2. 狛犬像 Guardian Lion-Dogs Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333), mid-13th century Japanese cypress with lacquer, gold leaf, and color a: H. 16 3/4 in. (42.5 cm); b: H. 18 in. (45.7 cm) Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 2015.300.257a, b Pairs of lion-dogs (komainu), featuring leonine heads on canine bodies, are traditionally placed before the entrance of Shinto shrines to ward off evil. The figure on the right is distinguished by its open mouth (a gyō), while the figure on the left bears a closed mouth (un gyō). These features may echo the open- and closed-mouth iconography of niō, the pair of guardian deities who protect Buddhist temples. Gallery 223, Vitrine A1 3. 埴輪 巫女 Haniwa (Clay Sculpture) of a Female Shrine Attendant Japan, Kofun period (ca. 3rd–7th century), 6th century Earthenware with traces of color H. 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm) Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 2015.300.255 10/16/2015 2 Gallery 223, Case 02 4. Illustrated Legends of the Origins of the Kumano Shrines (Kumano engi emaki) Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615), late 16th–early 17th century Set of three handscrolls; ink and color on paper Image (a): 9 1/2 in. × 33 ft. 5 5/8 in. (24.1 × 1020.2 cm) Image (b): 9 1/2 in. × 20 ft. 2 5/16 in. (24.1 × 615.5 cm) Image (c): 9 1/2 in. × 13 ft. 9 3/4 in. (24.1 × 421 cm) Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 2015.300.18a–c Section of scroll to change for Rotation 2. These handscrolls are part of a set of three (2015.300.18a–c), narrating the miraculous origins of the shrines at Kumano, one of Japan’s most sacred locales. A fantastical account of the Indian origins and ultimate enshrinement of Kumano’s three deities, the story is told through a mix of text and image presented in a linear format, conveying progression through time and space. The first two scrolls depict the story of an unnamed consort—one among a thousand—of an Indian maharaja who gives birth to the maharaja’s only son but is immediately beheaded at the hands of the other 999 consorts, who are bitterly jealous. The king, his consort, and the prince are eventually enshrined as the deities of Kumano, whose sacred sites are introduced in the final scroll. 10/16/2015 3 Gallery 223, Plexi Wall Case A 5. 春日宮曼荼羅 Mandala of Kasuga Shrine Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333), early 14th century Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk Image: 39 7/16 × 15 5/8 in. (100.2 × 39.7 cm) Overall with mounting: 72 1/4 × 21 5/8 in. (183.5 × 55 cm) Overall with knobs: 72 1/4 × 23 11/16 in. (183.5 × 60.2 cm) Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 2015.300.12 Combining the conceptual framework of the Buddhist mandala with elements of traditional Japanese painting, artists produced representations of shrine precincts in this unique genre of painting known as “shrine mandala” (miya mandara). This example of a Kasuga Shrine mandala depicts the sprawling complex at the foot of Mount Mikasa from a bird’s-eye perspective, inviting the viewer to embark on a virtual pilgrimage to the site and thereby gain the favor of Kasuga’s deities. The Buddhist avatars of the five Kasuga deities appear at the top of the scroll. From right to left they are: Eleven-headed Kannon (Jūichimen Kannon), Kannon of the Unfailing Noose (Fukūkensaku Kannon), the Medicine Buddha (Yakushi), the bodhisattva Jizō, and another Eleven-headed Kannon. 10/16/2015 4 Gallery 223, Case 03 6. 春日鹿曼荼羅 Deer Mandala of the Kasuga Shrine (Kasuga shika mandara) Japan, Nanbokuchō period (1336–92), late 14th century Hanging scroll; color on silk Image: 33 15/16 × 13 7/8 in. (86.2 × 35.2 cm) Overall with mounting: 66 15/16 × 20 15/16 in. (170 × 53.2 cm) Overall with knobs: 66 15/16 × 22 15/16 in. (170 × 58.2 cm) Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 2015.300.11 10/16/2015 5 Gallery 223, Case 03 7. 春日若宮曼荼羅 Mandala of Wakamiya of Kasuga Shrine (Kasuga wakamiya mandara) Japan, Nanbokuchō period (1336–92), early 14th century Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and cut gold on silk Image: 29 3/4 in. × 15 in. (75.6 × 38.1 cm) Overall with mounting: 62 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. (158.8 x 52.1 cm) Overall with knobs: 62 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. (158.8 x 57.2 cm) Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1997, and Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 1997.113 Seated on a pink and white lotus blossom and enclosed in a golden disc, Ame no oshikumone, the deity of Wakamiya Shrine at Kasuga, floats ethereally through space. Placed within the visual framework of a Buddhist deity and attired in the clothing of a noble youth, he holds a sword with his right hand, an allusion to his Buddhist counterpart Monju (Sanskrit: Manjusri), the bodhisattva of wisdom, whose attributes include a sword with which to cut through the illusions of the unenlightened mind. Monju is often depicted as a youthful figure, a visual reflection of his purified wisdom. A wakamiya, or “young shrine,” is a type of subsidiary shrine usually dedicated to the child of a deity venerated in the shrine’s principal sanctuary and symbolizes youthfulness and rejuvenation. 10/16/2015 6 Gallery 223, Case 03 8. 丹生明神像 Niu Myōjin Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333), early 14th century Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk Image: 32 5/8 × 14 7/16 in. (82.9 × 36.7 cm) Overall with mounting: 66 9/16 × 20 in. (169 × 50.8 cm) Overall with knobs: 66 9/16 × 21 3/4 in. (169 × 55.3 cm) Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 2015.300.14 The female Shinto deity of Mount Kōya, Niu Myōjin, is believed to have given Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi, 774–835) permission to build his monastery for Esoteric Buddhist training at Mount Kōya in 816. Here she is shown seated on a tatami mat wearing elaborately layered robes and with the long, flowing hair of a court lady. In the disk at the top of the painting, the deity is represented again by the seed syllable (a sacred Sanskrit character) referring to her original Buddhist form (honji) as Dainichi Nyorai (Sanskrit: Mahāvairocana), the central Buddha of the Esoteric Buddhist cosmos. A painting of Niu Myōjin such as this is usually paired with one of Kariba Myōjin, the male deity of Mount Kōya. 10/16/2015 7 Gallery 223, Case 03 9. 高野四所明神像 The Four Deities of Mount Kōya Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573), 16th century Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk Image: 40 3/16 × 19 1/2 in. (102 × 49.5 cm) Overall with mounting: 65 15/16 × 25 7/16 in. (167.5 × 64.6 cm) Overall with knobs: 65 15/16 × 27 5/8 in. (167.5 × 70.2 cm) Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015 2015.300.15 The four deities of Mount Kōya sit on elaborately decorated platforms before tripartite screens inside a Shinto shrine. Mount Kōya is the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism, established in the ninth century by Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi, 774–835). The two figures at the top are the female deity Niu Myōjin and her male counterpart Kariba Myōjin, local deities of the mountain who are said to have welcomed Kūkai as he searched for a site to build a monastery. The two deities at the bottom are Kehi, on the right, and Itsukushima Myōjin, on the left, who were brought to Kōya in the thirteenth century by the wife of the first Kamakura shogun, Minamoto Yoritomo (1147–1199). The three female deities are dressed in the fashion of Chinese court ladies of the Song dynasty, while Kariba appears as a Japanese courtier. 10/16/2015 8 Gallery 223, Vitrine B 10. 兜跋毘沙門天立像 Tobatsu Bishamonten Japan, Heian period (794–1185), late 10th–early 11th century Zelkova wood with traces of color H.