This sculpture of Bishamonten is a representation of the powerful realism of the Kamakura period.  It illustrates the blending of an imported religion, Buddhism, with such older native traditions as Shinto.  Perhaps no single feature of the Kamakura period so exemplifies the unique character of the age as does the emergence of bold new sculptural styles.  Indeed, the Kamakura is considered by many to be the last significant period in the history of Japanese sculpture until modern times.

The most compelling works of the period were created in the 13th century, notably by the Kei family, led by Kokei and his son Unkei. Inspired both by the exquisite idealism of the Nara-period works and by the fashion for realism found in Chinese Sung dynasty sculpture, the best of Kamakura period sculpture conveyed intense corporeal presence. The above priest, Muchaku, is a painted wood sculpture by Unkei (1148–1223). The style is frequently referred to as “Kamakura realism” but should not be confused with the notion of “realistic” in the sense of faithful rendering of the natural. While, for example, there is reference to careful anatomic understanding, this understanding is often rendered in extreme statement. The huge guardian figures created by Unkei, and other Kei artists to flank the Nandaimon (“Great South Gate”) at Todai Temple are the epitome of this style. With bulging eyes, limbs lined with tributaries of protruding veins, and theatrical poses, these and similar works were direct and accessible to the mass of the Buddhist faithful.

In portraying a range of divine concerns from protection to sympathetic consolation, Kamakura sculpture responded to the spiritual climate of the age.  The intensity of the deity's gaze, omniscient and direct, is accomplished by a Kamakura period innovation: inlaid crystal eyes backed by white paper appropriately colored to effect the iris and pupil.  Wood was the medium of choice, and in some cases the face of a sculpture was worked separately, as if a mask, and then affixed to the sculpture. The refinement of this ability to work on individual parts allowed for remarkable detail and expressive effects, enhancing the meticulous realism which is characteristic of Kamakura sculpture.
 
 

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