Cleveland Museum of Art

Monju with Five Hair Knots

Date

late 1200s–early 1300s

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and cut gold on silk

Culture

Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This Buddhist painting shows Monju, Manjushri in Sanskrit, riding a lion. Monju is a bodhisattva, a being who, though enlightened, chooses not to become a Buddha but instead helps others achieve enlightenment. Monju’s youthfulness symbolizes his pure wisdom, unsullied by the world, and his five hair knots represent his vow to keep calamity at bay. The supernatural nature of his lion is emphasized by its hair, every strand painted in gold, as well as by the lotus platforms beneath each of its feet. The boy’s bejeweled body and silk finery is meant to resemble that of an Indian prince. This painting is exemplary of the Kamakura period, known for artworks with special attention paid to the realism of images.

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