Image credit: Detail from a copy of the Illustrated Biographies of the Founding of the Kegon School (total seven handscrolls originally created in the 13th century); Kano Ansen (1823–1892) and others
807 Schermerhorn Hall
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This presentation will trace a continuous lineage of self-sacrifice imagery in Japanese painting that begins with the Jataka Tale paintings on the side panels of the Tamamushi Shrine (7th c., Hōryūji), and continues through the Pictorial Biography of Uisang (Karmic Origins of the Kegon Sect, 13th c., Kōsanji) to Nine Stages of Decay (late 13th–early 14th c., Kyushu National Museum). The analysis will argue that religious ideals of altruistic actions, including self-destructive ones, underly these seemingly unrelated works.