This pair of statues (with 1975.258.164), which flank the Cosmic Buddha Dainichi Nyorai, are from a set of four, each representing one of the cardinal directions. Originally Hindu demigods, the Four Heavenly Kings, or Shitennō, were absorbed into the Buddhist pantheon as protectors of Buddhist teachings, the temple, and the nation. In China, such statues were usually positioned near temple entrances, but in Japan they more often surrounded the central deity on the main altar. These ferocious figures nearly always wear armor, carry weapons or other attributes (now lost), and stand in dynamic poses rather than static postures of ease or meditation. Each carved from a single block of wood, their muscular forms retain the strength of early Heian-period style. Only the arms, now missing, were carved separately.
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四天王像の内 (Shitennō zō)
Title:One of the Four Heavenly Kings
Period:Heian period (794–1185)
Date:12th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Wood with traces of color
Dimensions:Overall (figure): H. 33 7/8 in. (86 cm); W. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm); D. 87/8 in. (22.5 cm)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
Accession Number:1975.268.165
[ Harry G. C. Packard American, Tokyo, until 1975; donated and sold to MMA].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Resonant Image: Tradition in Japanese Art (Part Two)," April 27–September 27, 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan," 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Tribute to a Dedicated Collector: Mary Griggs Burke," June 30–November 29, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Animals, Birds, Insects, and Marine Life in Japanese Art," June 26–November 30, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Poetry and Travel in Japanese Art," December 18, 2008–May 31, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Mandalas: Emanations and Avatars," June 18–November 30, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Landscapes in Japanese Art," June 24–November 7, 2010.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Beautiful Country: Yamato-e in Japanese Art," November 20, 2010–June 5, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan Galleries," February 2–July 28, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Kyoto: Capital of Artistic Imagination," July 24, 2019–January 31, 2021.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japan: A History of Style," March 8, 2021–April 24, 2022.
Tokyo Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo 東京国立文化財研究所, ed. Nyūyōku Metoroporitan Bijutsukan, kaiga, chōkoku ニューヨークメトロポリタン美術館,絵画・彫刻 (Painting and sculpture of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) Kaigai shozai Nihon bijutsuhin chōsa hōkoku 海外所在日本美術品調查報告 (Catalogue of Japanese art in foreign collections) 1. Tokyo: Kobunkazai Kagaku Kenkyūkai, 1991, p. 143, cat. no. 445.2.
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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.