Thread by @bryandaniellowe

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/

https://twitter.com/bryandaniellowe/status/1492111195339468803

The Buddha's death hasn't always been serious. The subject was taken up in the humorous genre of Ōtsu-e paintings. According to the Cleveland Museum, this painting "would have amused 19th-century viewers familiar with the usual Buddhist imagery." 4/ clevelandart.org/art/2016.306

Famous actors were often displayed in the style of a nirvana painting. The MFA owns quite a few, but here's one print of the actor Nakamura Utaemon IV. 5/ collections.mfa.org/objects/464832…

This is just one example of many at the MFA. Here are a few others for those interested. 6/ collections.mfa.org/search/objects…

In another famous example from the Kyoto National Museum, the Buddha is replaced with a daikon radish. 7/ artsandculture.google.com/asset/vegetabl…

Contemporary manga also draw on this image. The manga Saint Young Men about Jesus and the Buddha as roommates opens with this image. As @jolyonbt explains, "butt out buddy" is also a word play on Hotoke (Buddha) and Hottoke (butt out). 8/ tricycle.org/trikedaily/sai…

Religion can be serious, but it can also be funny. Even the most moving scene in the Buddhist tradition has been rendered with humor in #BuddhistArt for hundreds of years, a tradition that continues today. 9/9

I'll add some more RT's to this thread as I come across them. Here's a tuna in a nirvana scene.

https://twitter.com/araisan_syukyo/status/1493503128909774851

Here`s an exquisite wooden sculpture from Eikokuji in Nagoya.

https://twitter.com/butsuzo_k/status/1493559212676620292

And another sculpture in the Guimet:

https://twitter.com/nocontextbuddha/status/1493619490181070851

And a cute illustration by Mihotoke-chan, a geinin (entertainer) in Japan who loves and promotes Buddhist images.

https://twitter.com/mihotoke_chan/status/1492662563884400644

Sometimes fish and shellfish get in on the action.

https://twitter.com/butsuzo_k/status/1493525495375601666

https://twitter.com/biwazo/status/1493549965280354310

Here's an illustration that was from a biography of the Buddha serialized in a magazine from the temple Chion-in. It's for a "kamishibai" performance in which street performers use pictures to tell their tales.

https://twitter.com/sunyata000/status/1493534434339213312

We may have a winner. The penis parinirvana.

https://twitter.com/araisan_syukyo/status/1493654447020740608