快慶作 地蔵菩薩立像|Jizō, Bodhisattva of the Earth Store (Kshitigarbha)
ca. 1202
Medium
Lacquered Japanese cypress, color, gold, cut gold, and inlaid crystal
Dimensions
H. 22 in. (55.9 cm); W. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm); D. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm); Diam. of base 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm)
Classification
Sculpture
Culture & Period
Japan · Kamakura period (1185–1333)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number
2015.300.250a, b
Art Historical Context
Created around 1202 by the master sculptor Kaikei during Japan’s Kamakura period, this elegant standing figure of Jizō, the Bodhisattva of the Earth Store, embodies the era’s renewed emphasis on compassionate Buddhist deities. Kaikei, a leading figure in the influential Kei school, helped shift Buddhist sculpture toward greater naturalism and emotional expressiveness, moving away from the more stylized forms of earlier centuries. Carved from Japanese cypress and finished with lacquer, gold leaf, cut-gold patterning, and crystal-inlaid eyes, the sculpture demonstrates the refined techniques th...