Demon Intoning the Name of the Buddha

Description

Images like this one that depicts a demon in the guise of an itinerant monk intoning the name of the Buddha are called Otsu-e, or "Otsu paintings." Otsu-e were made as souvenirs for travelers passing through the station of Otsu along the Tokaido, the route stretching from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto. Realized through a combination of woodblock printing, rapid brushstrokes, embellishment with color and gold pigments by stencil or by hand, the earliest Otsu-e, produced in the 17th century, were Buddhist and Shinto icons. Later images included figures popular from Kabuki plays, as well as scenes illustrating parables.

Provenance

(Shogoro Yabumoto, Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (? at least by 1978–1982); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1982–)

Demon Intoning the Name of the Buddha

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1700s

Accession Number

1982.26

Medium

hanging scroll, ink and color on paper

Dimensions

Painting only: 59.2 x 22.1 cm (23 5/16 x 8 11/16 in.); Including mounting: 126.4 x 33 cm (49 3/4 x 13 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund