LATE KAMAKURA-EARLY MUROMACHI PERIOD (14TH-15TH CENTURY)

In Esoteric (Shingon) Buddhism, Fudo is the most powerful of the five Myo-o (Bright Kings), fierce forms of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, representing their power against evil. The five were worshipped as a group in Japan from at least the 9th century. Single images of Fudo were also worshipped as the main icon of a Goma-do hall within the precincts of a Shingon temple. Fudo appears here in his characteristic form, with a lotus on top of his head, and his hair hanging over his left shoulder. He has the soft figure of a young boy and holds a lasso and would have held a sword of wisdom in the right hand.