Kannon

c. 1868–1912

Kannon, c. 1868–1912. Japan, possibly Meiji period (1868-1912). Hanging scroll: ink and color on silk; inscription in gold ink on silk; overall: 227.9 x 75 cm (89 3/4 x 29 1/2 in.); painting only: 155 x 51.4 cm (61 x 20 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1986.8 The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Kannon in Japanese) stands with each of his feet upon a lotus blossom. The Buddha Amitabha (Amida in Japanese) appears in his headdress. The text written in golden characters attached to the top of the painting is a portion of a religious text extolling the virtues of the bodhisattva. The painter was inspired by Buddhist paintings of the Korean Goreyo period (918–1392); he attempted to reproduce the diaphanous shawl sometimes seen in such early works.