Artwork Page for Stand-in Fugen

Details / Information for Stand-in Fugen

Stand-in Fugen

見立普賢菩薩図

late 1700s–early 1800s

Kitao Masayoshi 北尾 政美

(Japanese, 1761–1824)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Measurements
Painting only: 114.3 x 56.2 cm (45 x 22 1/8 in.); Including mounting: 186.7 x 76.2 cm (73 1/2 x 30 in.)
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.277
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

Here, a woman dressed as a man replaces Fugen, a bodhisattva—a being among those considered enlightened in Buddhism—who symbolizes learning as a path to awakening and typically rides an elephant. The painting teaches the lesson of impermanence through the petals falling from the lotus flower the woman holds. It also alludes to the legend of Eguchi, a 12th-century courtesan who, following an encounter with a Buddhist monk-poet called Saigyō, revealed herself to be a manifestation of Fugen.
A hanging scroll depicts a woman with light skin tone riding a large, pale elephant toward the left. She wears a dark outer robe over a blue patterned garment, her black hair swept into a high bun. She holds a long-stemmed flower. The elephant has wrinkled skin and small tusks, its feet enveloped in a gray wash. In the lower right corner, calligraphy and two red seals mark the neutral silk background.

Stand-in Fugen

late 1700s–early 1800s

Kitao Masayoshi

(Japanese, 1761–1824)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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