The face was expressed with anger and rage, the left foot stomped on the rock and the right leg was kicked up aloft. Because statues of Zaō gongen were often enshrined in the temples in mountains, most of the works were made from metal to survive in severe environments. The material was applied not only bronze, but also iron.
 
Shigeki Iwata 
Masterworks from the Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall at the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2010, p.137, no.164. 

 Zaō-gongen, who is one of the original Japanese Buddhist deities in Japan, is said to have appeared in front of Enno-gyōja, when he was training himself on Mt. Kimpusen in Yoshino. Enno-gyōja was a master of mountain incantation, and he is said to have established Shugendō Buddhism. The character of Zaō-gongen was defined during or after the Heian period, when Shugendō Buddhism was already fully developed. The furious eyes, raised right fist, and the lifted right leg of Zaō-gongen indicate the influence from the images of esoteric Buddhism. The two-dimensional images of Zaō-gongen were often depicted on the backside of bronze mirrors, on hanging amulets, and the three-dimensional images were made as wooden and bronze statues. The statue discussed here was cast in bronze. A thick coating of gold is still extant over the chest part and the backside of the statue. During the Kamakura period, the body of Zaō-gongen was often depicted as leaning toward one direction to emphasize its anger, but this statue stands relatively upright, and a kind of calmness can be observed even in the rigid face. Such a gentle expression must be a work of the late Heian period. This statue is a very important example of a Zaō-gongen figure. 
Masterpieces of Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 1993, p.24, no.12.