Amida, the Buddha of Limitless Light

Amida, the Buddha of Limitless Light

18th century
Country
Japan
Object
statue
Accession Number
1938.9A-C
Credit Line
Gift of Caroline Bancroft
Amida, the Buddha of Limitless Light. 18th century. Gift of Caroline Bancroft. 1938.9A-C.
Dimensions
overall height: 50 1/2 in, 128.27 cm; width: 25.25 in, 64.1350 cm; depth: 20 1/2 in, 52.07 cm
Department
Arts of Asia
Collection
Arts of Asia

Amida Buddha
1700s, Edo period (1615–1868)
Japan
Lacquered wood and gold
Gift of Caroline Bancroft
1938.9

In Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, Amida (in Sanskrit, Amitabha)presides over the Western Paradise, the Pure Land where faithful devotees are reborn. Pure Land Buddhism spread from India to China by the second century, then to Japan in the Heian period (794–1185). By offering a path to salvation through faith in Amida’s divine compassion, Pure Land teachings differed from the complex and austere doctrines found in other forms of Japanese Buddhism. The sculpture, from the later Edo period, shows Amida seated upon a pedestal in the form of a lotus flower, with an aureole of swirling clouds rising into a curved tip behind him.