Buddha of Infinite Life and Light (Amida Nyorai)
Medium
Cypress with lacquer, color, gold, cut gold, rock-crystal inlaid eyes, and quartz
Dimensions
h. 94.6 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1960.197
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
This ornate Buddha Amida stands in a posture of welcome, greeting the dying who will accompany him back to his Pure Land. Documents inserted into the sculpture’s hollow core around the time of its creation include a copy of the sacred text Amida Sutra, a register of donors who desired to be joined together in generating karmic merit (kechien) through the creation and dedication of the sculpture, and a record asserting that the image was completed over the course of 33 days in 1269 at Shitennōji ...