RAIGO PAINTING

Image 50 cm x 130 cm /20” x 51 “

Overall 90 cm x 213 cm/ 36” x 84”.

SUBJECT: The subject of the painting is popularly identified as a Haya Raigo- or Rapid Welcoming Descent. “The subject of the Decent of Amida is based upon the description found in the Muryo-gyo-Sutra, which promised those who followed Amida that, when they die, Amida would descend to receive their departing souls and take them back to the Western Paradise. Paintings of the descent of Amida became popular with the increasing belief in the Paradise of Amida which developed in the late Heian and Kamakura Periods (eleventh to thirteenth centuries).”* In this painting, the Buddha Amida and twelve bodhisattvas, followers and deities on a white cloud descend at a steep angle to a waiting soul below. The Buddha Amida’s size dominates the other figures. The cloud is offset against a dark blue sky which contains stylized falling gold leaves. Gold is liberally used contrasting with the flat pigment of the cloud.