Artwork Page for Kannon

Details / Information for Kannon

Kannon

観音菩薩像

c. 1868–1912

Japan, Meiji period

(1868–1912)
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk; inscription in gold ink on silk
Measurements
Overall: 227.9 x 75 cm (89 3/4 x 29 1/2 in.); Painting only: 155 x 51.4 cm (61 x 20 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1986.8
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Kannon in Japanese) stands with each of his feet upon a lotus blossom. The Buddha Amitabha (Amida in Japanese) appears in his headdress. The text written in golden characters attached to the top of the painting is a portion of a religious text extolling the virtues of the bodhisattva. The painter was inspired by Buddhist paintings of the Korean Goreyo period (918–1392); he attempted to reproduce the diaphanous shawl sometimes seen in such early works.
A hanging scroll depicts Kannon, a person with light skin tone and an ornate crown, standing on two lotus blossoms. Kannon has a reddish-brown halo and wears a red patterned robe under a translucent shawl while holding a string of beads. Above, vertical columns of gold calligraphy fill a rectangular section. The scroll is framed by a red silk border with gold floral motifs.

Kannon

c. 1868–1912

Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912)

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