Jizō Playing a Flute

In this painting by the renowned Kano School master, Kano Tan’yū, the salvific bodhisattva Jizō (Sanskrit: Ksitigarbha) descends from the sky on a wisp of cloud. In a unique take on Jizō imagery thought to have been invented by Tan’yū himself, the youthful bodhisattva plays a flute and wears a lotus leaf atop his head. Although images of a flute-playing Jizō are exceedingly rare, Mary Burke had two examples by Tan’yū in her collection.