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Female Shinto Deity

A work made of wood with traces of polychromy.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of wood with traces of polychromy.

Date:

12th century

Artist:

Japan

About this artwork

In Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, female deities play an equally important role as their male counterparts. The earliest surviving sculptures of female Shinto deities date to the ninth century, and they often form a set with a depiction of the male deity Hachiman, the god of war. The goddesses’ identities are inexact, and such sculptures show a generic woman of the imperial court in secular dress.

Here the deity’s stiff pose and blocklike shape recall other sculptures of this type, but her softened facial features and placid expression make it apparent that the artist was very skilled.

Status

On View, Gallery 103

Department

Arts of Asia

Title

Female Shinto Deity

Place

Japan (Object made in)

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.

1099–1199

Medium

Wood with traces of polychromy

Dimensions

25 × 17 × 10.8 cm (9 7/8 × 6 3/4 × 4 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with Funds Provided by the Weston Foundation; Alsdorf Acquisition Fund; Russell Tyson Endowment Fund; President's Exhibition and Acquisition Fund

Reference Number

2008.159

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/193243/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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