Descent of Amitabha and two bodhisattvas (Amida Sanzon Raigo-zu)

Date17th century

Label TextThis Ōtsu-e is based on a type of Buddhist picture known as a raigō, or “welcoming descent” of the buddha Amida, who is believed to descend from heaven with two bodhisattvas, Kannon and Seishi, to welcome the recently departed to a blissful afterlife. Such hopeful images began to appear in Japan in the 1100s alongside the development of the Pure Land school of Buddhism, whose adherents worship the salvific Amida in hopes of being reborn in this buddha’s paradise, known as the Western Pure Land.

Object number49.263

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Deities & Demons: Supernatural in Japanese Art, October 20, 2022 – May 18, 2025 (on view December 7, 2024 – May 18, 2025).

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

Dimensions12 3/8 x 9 3/16 in. (31.4 x 23.3 cm)

MediumInk and color on paper with clay and shell wash