Kanzeonji Temple (Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture) is an old temple of the Tendai sect and is said to have been established by Emperor Tenji during the Asuka Period (593–710). After the middle of the Heian Period (794–1185), the temple was repeatedly destroyed by fires and typhoons. The current structures all date from the Edo Period (1603–1867). This work depicts a scene during the Heian Period in which Buddhist sculptures inside the temple are engulfed in flames. The two large sculptures are probably modeled after statues of the horse-headed Hayagriva (left) and Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva (right), which remain at Kanzeonji Temple today. The work provides evidence of the detailed research that Kimura Buzan, who excelled at Buddhist paintings, put into his art.
(KASHIWAGI Tomoh)
Kanzeonji Temple (Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture) is an old temple of the Tendai sect and is said to have been established by Emperor Tenji during the Asuka Period (593–710). After the middle of the Heian Period (794–1185), the temple was repeatedly destroyed by fires and typhoons. The current structures all date from the Edo Period (1603–1867). This work depicts a scene during the Heian Period in which Buddhist sculptures inside the temple are engulfed in flames. The two large sculptures are probably modeled after statues of the horse-headed Hayagriva (left) and Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva (right), which remain at Kanzeonji Temple today. The work provides evidence of the detailed research that Kimura Buzan, who excelled at Buddhist paintings, put into his art.
(KASHIWAGI Tomoh)