The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Monju with Five Hair Knots

Monju with Five Hair Knots

late 1200s–early 1300s
(1185–1333)
Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and cut gold on silk
Overall: 102 x 42.6 cm (40 3/16 x 16 3/4 in.); with knobs: 190.5 x 65.5 cm (75 x 25 13/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1971.21
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This painting is exemplary of the Kamakura period, known for artworks with special attention paid to the realism of images.

Description

This Buddhist painting shows Monju, Manjushri in Sanskrit, riding a lion. Monju is a bodhisattva, a being who, though enlightened, chooses not to become a Buddha but instead helps others achieve enlightenment. Monju’s youthfulness symbolizes his pure wisdom, unsullied by the world, and his five hair knots represent his vow to keep calamity at bay. The supernatural nature of his lion is emphasized by its hair, every strand painted in gold, as well as by the lotus platforms beneath each of its feet. The boy’s bejeweled body and silk finery is meant to resemble that of an Indian prince.
  • After this painting was stabilized for display in the Japanese art gallery (235B) in 2018, it was decided that during the time between display periods it would receive a more intensive treatment to fully repair issues with delamination, wear throughout the mounting silks, and splits at the edges of the scroll. Between 2020 and 2022, the hanging scroll was dismantled, the painting treated, and the whole remounted reusing the old mounting silks and hanging scroll hardware.
  • by 1914
    Baron Kawasaki
    ?–1971
    (Haruji Fujii, Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1971–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kawasaki Shōzō 川崎正藏, and Yoshitarō Kawasaki 川崎芳太郎. Chōshunkaku kanshō [長春閣鑑賞 = Catalogue of Chinese and Japanese art in the collection of Baron Kawasaki]. Tōkyō: Kokkasha, 1914. Mentioned and Reproduced: vol. 1, cat. no. 9
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1971.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 1 (1972): 3–47. Mentioned: no. 170, p. 47; Reproduced: no. 170, p. 37 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 372 archive.org
  • Animals in Japanese Art (Japanese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-December 10, 2023).
    Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 2-July 9, 2018).
    Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).
    Journey of the Three Jewels: Japanese Buddhist Paintings in Western Collections. Asia House Galleries, New York City, NY (organizer) (October 11-December 9, 1979); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (March 27-May 11, 1980).
  • {{cite web|title=Monju with Five Hair Knots|url=false|author=|year=late 1200s–early 1300s|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.21