Standing Monk｜Nara National Museum

Standing Monk

Wood with pigments and cut gold leaf
H. 28.9cm
Kamakura period　13th century

H009833

H009833
2011/04/27

H009836
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H009839
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H009842
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H009845
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H009848
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H009851
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H009854
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H009856
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H009859
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H009862
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H009865
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H009868
2011/04/27

Hands pressed together in prayer, this monk exhibits some of the characteristics of a Buddha, a triple-lined neck, elongated string-like earlobes and a tuft of hair on the forehead, known as a byakugō. It may represent Jizō bosatsu (Skt. Kṣitigarbha), who is similarly depicted in stone images in the second and fourth grottoes at Ōya in Tochigi Prefecture or perhaps it is one of the ten disciples of the historic Buddha.

Shigeki Iwata
Masterworks from the Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall at the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2012, p.109, no.143.

This standing figure in the robes of a monk and with its shaven head holds its hands in prayer before its chest. The body has been painted in flesh color and the robe is vividly ornamented with various colors and cut-gold foil. The identity of the figure is uncertain, but it is thought to likely be either Jizō bosatsu (Skt. Kṣitigarbha) or one of the ten principal disciples of Śākyamuni, the historical Buddha.
Object label

Accession Number	1444-0
Category	Sculptures
Bibliography	Masterworks from the Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall at the Nara National Museum, 2022, 194p. Masterworks from the Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall at the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2013, 168p. Jōkei : a Monk at the Heart of Kamakura-era Buddhism : Special 800th Memorial Exhibition. Nara National Museum, 2012, 286p. (Japanese) Masterworks from the Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall at the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2012, 168p.