On the right side of the painting, Queen Maya grasps a tree branch while walking through the Lumbini gardens, and the baby emerges from her side. On the left, heavenly musicians play music and throw flowers in celebration as the newborn immediately takes seven steps marked by lotus flowers and, raising his right hand, declares, "Among all divine beings, only I am lord, most holy and victorious." He is then given his first bath—a heavenly lustration by dragons.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
仏伝図
Title:Scene from the Life of the Buddha
Period:Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Date:early 15th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Section of a wall panel mounted as a hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
Dimensions:Image: 29 3/4 in. × 44 in. (75.6 × 111.8 cm) Overall with mounting: 68 5/8 × 51 3/4 in. (174.3 × 131.4 cm) Overall with knobs: 68 5/8 × 54 1/2 in. (174.3 × 138.4 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Alvin E. Friedman-Kien, 1993
Accession Number:1993.478.1
Alvin Friedman-Kien , New York (until 1993; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Seasonal Pleasures in Japanese Art, Part II," May 1–September 8, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sense of Place: Landscape in Japanese Art," May 8–September 8, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Birds, Flowers, and Buddhist Paradise Imagery in Japanese Art," February 14–June 13, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," July 2–November 29, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Graceful Gestures: Two Decades of Collecting Japanese Art," 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Drama of Eyes and Hands: Sharaku's Portraits of Kabuki Actors," September 20, 2007–March 24, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Poetry and Travel in Japanese Art," December 18, 2008–May 31, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Storytelling in Japanese Art," November 19, 2011–May 6, 2012.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art," April 8, 2023–July 14, 2024.
Uto Gyoshi (Japanese, active second half of 16th century)
mid–late 16th century
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.