Buddha in Nirvana Notecard Folio

The story of Buddhism opens with the awareness of suffering and concludes with the transcendence of all earthly woes, a path from understanding to enlightenment. Siddhartha, prince of a small kingdom in what is now Nepal, had been shielded by a protective father from all knowledge of illness, decrepitude, and death until he reached the age of twenty-nine; the revelation that he lived in a world of pain moved Siddhartha to abandon his former existence and take up the life of a mendicant ascetic. In time he came to believe that the cycle of reincarnations described by the dominant Hindu tradition could be escaped by giving up all cravings and achieving inner peace, a realization that permitted him to become a buddha, or “awakened one.”

The two Japanese paintings reproduced for this folio show Siddhartha, also called Gautama Buddha, who has expired on a bier. Gathered around him are animals, bodhisattvas, demons, monks, all mourning his passing—the elephant and the dragon appear to be especially moved. Descending from on high are his disciple Aniruddha and his mother Queen Maya with attendants.

Published with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Contains five each of the following two notecards: Hanabusa Itchō (Japanese, 1652–1724), The Death of the Historical Buddha, Edo period, 1713, and Artist unknown (Japanese, nineteenth century), The Death of the Historical Buddha, Edo period, nineteenth century.