Group of deva and devi

The eighteen figures represented in these two paintings (see F1904.312) are all grouped under the Japanese name tenbu, or heavenly beings. The varied figures generally personify forces active in the cosmos; all trace their origins to indigenous beliefs of India and Central Asia. The inscriptions that identify each being are not completely reliable, however, the guardians of the four directions, shown as fierce warriors in the left-hand painting, and the deities of the sun and moon, seen here with corresponding symbols at the top of each painting, are recognizable.

Other inscriptions indicate that the paintings originally belonged to Sanseizenji, a subtemple of Tofukuji, an important medieval Zen Buddhist center in Kyoto. Artists in the Tofukuji atelier were known for their high-quality iconography and skillful assimilation of influential Chinese Buddhist painting styles.