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Japanese

Medicine Buddha (Yakushi-Nyorai) and His Twelve Attendants, 1400s

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Japanese

Title

Medicine Buddha (Yakushi-Nyorai) and His Twelve Attendants

Year

1400s

Medium

Ink and color on silk

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • paint

Supports

  • silk

Place

Japan

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

40.176

About

The Medicine Buddha, centered in this painting, has long been revered in Japan for his healing and protective powers. Once a bodhisattva—an enlightened individual who helps guide others to that understanding—this Buddha is often portrayed with a medicine jar in his hand. Flanked by two bodhisattvas, he is also surrounded by twelve attendants, each garbed in armor and expressively and animatedly depicted. Signifying the twelve vows that the Buddha made to heal the sick, the attendants serve as a reminder of his benevolence and miraculous powers. The Medicine Buddha was a central icon of worship in many Japanese temples.

Japan
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Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Medicine Buddha (Yakushi-Nyorai) and His Twelve Attendants with the accession number of 40.176. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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