A Japanese hanging scroll painting, ink and color on paper, dated to the thirteenth century in the Kamakura period, depicting Benzaiten, goddess of eloquence, music, wealth and knowledge, seated in state and attended by her fifteen youthful attendant deities, each traditionally associated with a distinct benefit she grants devotees. The scroll entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art collection in 1975 as part of the Harry G. C. Packard Collection, accession number 1975.268.11. Benzaiten's cult entered Japan from Buddhist India by way of China, identified with the Hindu river goddess Sarasvati, and the elaboration of her retinue into fifteen named attendants reflects a devotional development specific to Japanese Buddhist practice of the medieval period.
Facts
Subject Matter
Devotional FunctionBenzaiten's worship in Japan characteristically centers on water, springs, caves and islands, a devotional geography that traces directly back to her origin as the river goddess Sarasvati; a scroll of this kind would have served as the focal image for petitions addressed to her for the specific benefits, eloquence, music, wealth and knowledge among them, that her fifteen attendants were each understood to grant. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Depicts
The painting's sole named subject, an esoteric Buddhist depiction of the goddess in her fifteen-attendant form, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's own collection record.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's own title for this hanging scroll names the subject outright, "Benzaiten and Fifteen Attendants."
Sources
1. Benzaiten and Fifteen Attendants, Museum Record (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
1. Benzaiten and Fifteen Attendants, Museum Record (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
The Metropolitan Museum of ArtDepicts: Benzaiten, Metropolitan Museum of Art collection recordView the Source Benzaiten and Fifteen Attendants, File Record (Wikimedia Commons)
Wikimedia CommonsDepicts: BenzaitenQuote, Depicts: Benzaiten
Benzaiten and Fifteen Attendants, 13th century, hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession 1975.268.11, The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art.
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