Zaō Gongen
1200s
Maker Unknown
Japanese Art
Zaō Gongen, 1200s. Japan, Kamakura period (1185-1333). Wood; average: 106.7 cm (42 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1973.105 Zaō Gongen is the guardian deity of Mount Kinpu in Yoshino south of Nara. Zaō appeared at the behest of En no Gyōja, who prayed for a powerful protector of the mountain. The deity was described as a combined manifestation of the Buddha Shakyamuni, Thousand-Armed Kannon, and Miroku. These three deities were viewed as the past, present, and future protectors of the world. Zaō’s appearance derives from portrayals of fierce Buddhist deities. Zaō Gongen wears the pelt of a large feline, the face of which is near his knee.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Formatted Medium
- wood
- Medium
- wood
- Dimensions
- Average: 106.7 cm (42 in.)
- Departments
- Japanese Art
- Accession Number
- 1973.105
- Credit Line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Exhibitions
- Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture, Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection, The World of Enno-Gyoja and Shugendoh: Secret Treasures of Mountain Asceticism, Shinto: Discovering the Divine in Japanese Art 神道－日本美術における神性の発見, <em>Year in Review 1973</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 30, 1974-March 16, 1974)., <em>One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650) from The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Japan House Gallery, New York, NY (March 19-May 17, 1981).
- Rights Statement
- CC0
- Museum Location
- 235B Japanese
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