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Daruma

Painted portrait of the upper torso and head of a man with medium skin, a red cloth covering his head and shoulders, an exposed chest, and light facial hair. The background is a neutral tone and the figure takes up only the bottom half of the tall, bordered, rectangular scroll.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Painted portrait of the upper torso and head of a man with medium skin, a red cloth covering his head and shoulders, an exposed chest, and light facial hair. The background is a neutral tone and the figure takes up only the bottom half of the tall, bordered, rectangular scroll.

Date:

c. 1550

Artist:

Artist unknown
Japanese

About this artwork

Zen rose to prominence in Japan in the 13th century, after receiving support from the ruling Kamakura shogunate. In this sect of Buddhism, images of patriarchs were especially revered because the relationships between masters and disciples are of primary importance to the transmission of Zen teachings. Zen’s semilegendary founder, Daruma (A.D. c. 470–c. 543), came from southern India and crossed the Yangzi River in China, where he meditated in a cave at the Shaolin monastery for nine years. In this Japanese painting, his facial features are Indian, and his head is covered as befits a southern Indian monk.

According to an inscription on the back of this painting, it was originally in the possession of Shorinji temple in Okayama prefecture.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Title

Daruma

Place

Japan (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1545–1555

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, colors, and gold on silk

Dimensions

109.2 × 54 cm (43 × 21 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Russell Tyson, Samuel M. Nickerson endowments

Reference Number

1992.98

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/117201/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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