Medicine Master Buddha and the Twelve Divine Generals
Unknown Artist
1200s
Medium
Hanging scroll painting; ink, color, gold, and silver on silk
Dimensions
261 × 106.6 cm · image: 151.2 × 84.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Edward L. Whittemore Fund
Accession Number
1938.422
About this artwork
From the 700s, people in Japan began praying to the Medicine Master Buddha (Yakushi Nyorai) for longevity. Yakushi is at the center of this image, flanked by the bodhisattvas of the sun and moon, Nikkō and Gakkō. The Twelve Divine Generals, a group of protective deities, surround him. Yakushi sits in a meditative pose with his right hand in a gesture bestowing fearlessness while his left hand holds a medicine jar. In the upper part of the painting, rectangles simulating decorative paper inscript...