Komoku-ten, Guardian Of The West

Title

Komoku-ten, Guardian Of The West

Artist

Joe Paradis

Medium

Digital Art - Artist Print

Description

Komoku-ten, Guardian of the West
With clenched fists and grimacing lips, a grotesque demon glares up through crystal orange eyes in rage at its tormenter, Komoku-ten—one of the four Shitenno, or guardian kings of Buddhism. Balanced majestically and effortlessly atop the demon’s writhing, comically contorted body, Komoku-ten, Guardian of the West, holds in his hands a scroll and writing brush, icons of Buddhist law.
Carved in Japan between 1185 and 1333, during what is known to scholars as the Kamakura period, this exquisite wooden sculpture is one of four on view in the newly renovated Freer Gallery of Art.
They once stood together inside a temple sanctuary in Japan, symbolically protecting the Buddha at the temple’s center in each of the four cardinal directions: Tamon-ten (north), Jikoku-ten (east), Zocho-ten (south) and Komoku-ten (west). Appearing lithe and animated, each guardian has a squirming demon pinned beneath his feet, symbolizing dominance over all forces that might harm the Buddha. The sculptor’s identity is unknown.
“What is very, very interesting and important about these sculptures is that they are fine examples of a relatively new technique in which figures were put together from individually carved pieces rather than being carved from a single large wooden column, such as a tree trunk,” explains James Ulak, senior curator of Japanese Art at the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries.

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October 26th, 2017

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