Artwork Details
A) figure: 45 in. B) spear: 49-1/4 in. C) wheel: 12-1/2 (diam.) in.
PeriodJane Weldon Myers Art Fund, The Ballard Fund, Lucille Stewart Endowed Art Fund, Nancy Foxwell Neuberger Acquisition Endowment Fund
CopyrightAsian Art (Japanese and Korean)
Color PaletteTakashi Yanagi of (Oriental Fine Arts, Kyoto, Japan); purchased by the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2010.
毘沙門天立像
The Deva Vaisravana, known in Japan both as Tamonten and Bishamonten, is one of the Four Heavenly Kings who guard against evil in the four cardinal directions. Originally Hindu protectors of Lord Indra, the four kings were converted to Buddhism. Like his three counterparts, Bishamonten is dressed in Chinese armor, holds a halberd, and stands upon a demon (jaki). His scowling face shows his strength and determination to battle against evil. In Japan, Tamonten, protector of the north, surpassed the others in importance and came to be worshipped independently as Bishamonten.
Content Disclaimer and Usage Rights
Metadata about the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection comes from Newfields’ records and research. In some cases, information may be incomplete and research is ongoing. Newfields’ goal is to have as up-to-date metadata as possible, therefore, this information is subject to change. Newfields collections’ metadata is available under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) waiver, which allows for re-use without legal restrictions.
Artworks that appear in the image file(s) above may be in copyright or have other legal and/or cultural restrictions to their use. For clarity, Newfields does not claim copyright to the image files created by Newfields of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Newfields makes every effort to ascertain the copyright status of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Please refer to the RightsStatements.org statement above for information about the current copyright status of the artwork. Additionally, some artworks may include Local Context’s Notices or Labels that attribute cultural authority of the artwork’s heritage and data.
Additional information about Newfields’ reproduction guidelines can be found in the Licensing Resources.