Red Amida (1300s): Art, History and Details

Red Amida (1300s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This rare image depicts the Crimson Crystal Buddha of Infinite Life, or Red Amida, with a red body; it is more common to see Red Amida with a red robe. His crown contains the Five Wisdom Buddhas who represent different aspects of wisdom. He is supported by a lotus flower with five- and single-pronged vajras, ritual implements derived from ancient Indian weapons. Their selection is particular to specific deities and rites and based on sacred texts.

Object facts

• Title: Red Amida
• Date: 1300s
• Culture: Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
• Dimensions: Overall: 229.4 x 97.8 cm (90 5/16 x 38 1/2 in.); Painting only: 127.4 x 79.3 cm (50 3/16 x 31 1/4 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1971.164

A detail from the museum

Red Amida holds his hands in a mudra, or gesture, of welcome, as he receives worshipers to another plane called the Pure Land.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.