Special Exhibition: The Nezu Museum’s Collection of Buddhist Statues

Early Buddhism made no images of the Buddha; Shakyamuni was shown through symbols such as the wheel of the law, the bodhi tree and footprints. The origin of Buddhist images is traced to Gandhara in northwestern India and Mathura in northern India. Each of the four classes has its own look. A nyorai wears only a plain robe and no ornaments, with a raised crown of the head (nikkei) and hair in right-turning curls (rahotsu); Dainichi Nyorai is the one exception, crowned and jeweled like a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva usually has the hair tied up under a crown and wears necklaces and armlets. Wisdom kings (myōō) belong to esoteric Buddhism and were made in number in Japan only from the Heian period on; Fudō Myōō shows fangs and holds a sword in the right hand and a rope in the left. Devas (tenbu) were gods of Brahmanism and Hinduism taken into Buddhism as guardians of its teaching; some look like warriors, others like heavenly maidens. Japanese Buddhist statues make heavy use of wood. In the early Heian period the head and trunk were often carved from a single block (ichiboku-zukuri); joining two or more blocks (yosegi-zukuri) began around the late tenth century and, from the sculptor Jōchō in the eleventh, was widely used for large statues.

Start with the head and body: no ornaments and hair in small curls usually means a nyorai; a crown and necklaces usually mean a bodhisattva. Then look at the hands: what shape they make and what they hold. A nyorai's hands mostly hold nothing and form a gesture (mudra) instead.