Flying Celestial

A celestial being appears before a rolling bank of clouds, her robes and sashes fluttering in the wind. Although she flies alone, such celestials typically appear in groups, gliding through the air in the vicinity of a buddha, such as Amida (Sanskrit: Amitābha), the Buddha of Boundless Light. The artist Kiyohara Yukinobu was a grandniece of Kano Tan’yū (1602–74), a master of the great Kano house of painters. Her delicate handling of the brush and subtle application of color and gold, apparent in the figure’s flowing robes, is consistent with the style of her great-uncle.