Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of Hottō Enmyō Kokushi

Date

c. 1295–1315

Medium

Hinoki cypress wood with lacquer, metal staples and fittings

Culture

Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Hottō Enmyō Kokushi, is a posthumous title bestowed upon the Zen Buddhist monk Shinchi Kakushin (1203–1298) by the emperor Go-Daigo. The title means “perfectly awakened national teacher of the Dharma lamp.” Considered a fine example of “Kamakura realism,” while downplaying detail in the body, the sculpture emphasizes fidelity in representing the visage of Kakushin. Two famous sculptural portraits of this monk, one at the temple Ankokuji in Hiroshima, and another at the temple Kōkokuji in Wakayama, are dated to 1275 and 1286, respectively.

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