Ippen

-Japanese Buddhist Monk-

[image]


As was the case with sculptural representation, immediacy and accessibility were the most desired attributes of religious iconography. Religious foundations made extensive use of the narrative scroll format to honour sect anniversaries or histories and to document the biographies of founders and other major personalities. Such works as the Honen shonin eden and the Ippen shonin gyojo eden present biographies of the priests Honen, founder of the Pure Land sect, and Ippen, beloved charismatic who founded an Amidist subgroup,the Ji sect. In vitality of defining brushwork, rich palette, and lavish depiction of the sundry details of contemporaneous existence, these and similar works serve as essential records of the material culture of the Kamakura period; but in a more profound religious sense, they are visual evidence of the strong Japanese penchant for grounding the spiritual experience in the easily approachable guise of everyday life.