Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #BuddhistArt
Most recents (5)
Today, the Buddha’s birthday is celebrated in Japan. I previously did a #buddhistart thread on the Buddha's death. Let’s do a birthday one now. 1/ 
The birth of the Buddha is said to be miraculous. He was born from his mother’s right side, rather than vaginally. His birth can be seen in this image from the Cleveland Museum of Art from northeastern India. I love Indra catching him! 2/ clevelandart.org/art/1959.349
This one from the Met from a few centuries later is similar. He is both born from the side and then reappears a second time standing on flower petals to receive his first bath. 3/
metmuseum.org/art/collection…
metmuseum.org/art/collection…
Today marks the commemoration of the Buddha's death, as celebrated in Japan and elsewhere. Images of the Buddha's death have long been a common theme in Japanese #BuddhistArt. While it would seem to be a serious subject, it has also been one of humor and parody. A 🧵. 1/
The above painting is a gorgeous 14th-century example from the Met. A closeup shows the absolute devastation of the mourners. The monk Myōe is said to have cried when describing this scene. These images had powerful emotive resonances with viewers. 2/ metmuseum.org/art/collection…
These paintings of the Buddha's death continue to be a source of reverence today and are used in rituals at major temples throughout Japan. Last week, I tweeted this video of the unrolling of one massive Nirvana image in preparation for rituals today. 3/
I’ve done a lot of Shinto/Japanese mythology threads over the past six months, especially tied to teaching. At the risk of regurgitating, it feels like it warrants a thread of threads just to keep it all in one place for easy reference. 1/10
This thread explains how the foundational mythological texts, Nihon Shoki and Kojiki cannot be considered a single Japanese mythology. Rather, plurality was the name of the game from the time of our earliest written texts. 2/10
Over the summer, I did a series of three threads on #transnationalshinto to try to complicate ideas of Shinto as an indigenous religion. Here’s the first one, which focused on #buddhistart to show how kami and Buddhist deities blend in Japanese art. 3/10
Time for the latest and final installment of my transnational Shinto tweet threads. This time let’s look at what you could call the patron god of learning in Japan: Tenjin, the deified form of Sugawara no Michizane. 1/
Before diving in, let me say what I mean by calling Shinto transnational, since this has created some confusion (some sincere and understandable, some intentionally ignorant). I basically mean three things. 2/
1) Key elements that became central to Shinto came to Japan from abroad through immigration, trade, and other networks. This is true for the 8th-c. myths (Kojiki and Nihon shoki) of Amaterasu and others 3/ ()
Hey artist friends! Raise your hand if you know the special pain of juggling 4 or more sketchbooks at a time! How did it come to this?? Got any tips for organizing them?
#sketchbook #artlife #ArtistProblems
#sketchbook #artlife #ArtistProblems
I've ended up with a whirlwind of sketchbooks (10+) largely cos I just can't resist a good deal on a good sketchbook. Also several were gifts. And hey they're not for collecting, they're for drawing! I do try to keep them organized though!
#sketchbook
#sketchbook
For instance this one (a lovely gift from Google!) is my main work notebook. It's full of notes and sketches for various projects.
#sketchbook #sketch
#sketchbook #sketch
