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Processional Mask of a Bodhisattva
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This ceremonial mask was used in a dramatic enactment of the descent of the Buddha Amida and his entourage to welcome the dying to his Pure Land. The mask represents the face of an enlightened being called a bodhisattva. Performances of the welcoming descent had begun by the early 11th century and continue at some temples today.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineProcessional Mask of a Bodhisattva (行道面・菩薩), late 1100s. Japan, Heian period (794–1185). Wood, lacquered and painted; overall: 22 x 16 cm (8 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1950.581
