Buddha Amitabha (Amita) and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas

Object Details

• Description

  Buddha and eight disciples. The Buddha is seated on a lotus throne aloft, in the attitude of teaching. His throne rests upon an alter decorated in lotus motive, and before this and at his sides are eight Bodhisattvas, the "Beings of Enlightenment", depicted in beauty and brilliantly garbed. Each, like the Buddha himself, has a nimbus. The Bodhisattvas are standing, in groups of four. Silk a deep dark brown, considerably worn and showing some cracks. Vestiges of seal marks at lower left, unreadable.

• Marks

  Vestiges of seal marks at lower left, unreadable. One seal, undecipherable.

• Label

  Amitabha, known in Korean as Amita-bul, the Buddha who promises salvation to all believers, is seated in the center of a goup of eight bodhisattvas (enlightened beings). The Buddha wears a red robe embelished with gold patterns, while all but one of the bodhisattvas wear jeweled crowns and fine, translucent garments. Only one, Kshitigarbha, who has the power to save even those who have been reborn in Hell, wears a simpler, hooded garment. Under court patronage Korean Buddhist art of the Koryo dynasty (918-1392) developed an extraordinarily refined style.

• Provenance

  To 1906

  Yamanaka & Company, to 1906 [1]

  From 1906 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1906 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. Also see Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 537, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Goryeo Buddhist Paintings: A Closer Look (February 25 to May 28, 2012)

  Buddhist Art (May 9, 1993 to August 9, 2011)

  Korean Art (December 17, 1984 to June 23, 1986)

  Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)

  Korean Art (March 20, 1982 to 2 April 1984)

  Korean Art (June 4, 1982 to September 23, 1982)

  Korean Art (July 15, 1981 to September 15, 1981)

  Korean Art (March 20, 1980 to March 3, 1981)

  Korean Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to October 13, 1978)

  Korean Art (June 19, 1969 to November 10, 1976)

  Korean Art (November 2, 1959 to November 22, 1971)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Sculpture (November 15, 1944 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Scrolls (July 19, 1943 to April 30, 1946)

  Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Korea

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1300s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, buddha, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Korea

• Topic

  Art, Dharmacakra, Korean Art, Avalokite?svara (Buddhist deity), Manjushri, Lotus, Ksitigarbha, Bodhisattva, Throne, Goryeo period (918 - 1392), Charles Lang Freer collection, Maitreya Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Preaching, Samantabhadra, Mahasthamaprapta, Halo

• Culture

  Buddhists, Koreans

• Object Type

  Paintings