Description
Standing about 90 cm high, this fine image of Amitabha Buddha dates from the late Heian period (794–1185). While many such statues were carved during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), it is rare to find one dating back to the preceding Heian period, making this work an important relic. His gentle facial expression and the shallow, flowing lines of his robes point to a style inherited from Jōchō, the Buddhist sculptor who created the Amitabha Buddha in Kyoto’s Byōdō-in Temple. This statue was once owned by the Genmyō-in Temple in Kameoka, Kyoto.
<Translated by Rachel Lam, Edited by Sheila Ryan>
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
March 30, 2026