Cleveland Museum of Art

Batō (Horse-Headed) Kannon

Date

early 1300s, pedestal 1600s–1700s

Medium

Wood with traces of color and gold; pedestal: wood with lacquer, color, and gold

Culture

Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Batō Kannon, or Hayagriva Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit, is the “horse-headed” form of the bodhisattva of compassion, who presides over the realm of animals in the Buddhist Six Realms of Transmigration (rebirth). A horse’s head appears in the hair of this sculpture to identify it. Bodhisattvas are beings who, though enlightened, choose to remain within the worlds of existence to help others. The six realms are heaven, hell, human, animal, hungry ghost, and ashura , or fierce supernatural entities.

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