Scenes of the Buddhist Hell

Shōsai 松斎

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This dynamic painting depicts the Buddhist hell. Most of the composition shows detailed descriptions of the types of suffering that await souls reborn in hell, with an array of punishments meted out by muscular, half-nude demons with red or green skin. In the upper left corner, for example, two naked figures on a platform attempt to escape as a green-skinned demon beats them. Nearby, another hapless soul is bound upside down to a tree, watching in horror and awaiting his own punishment. Elsewhere, demons march lost souls into a pool of molten lava. A scene in the bottom third of the picture shows a group of children in a graveyard, some attempting to escape from an approaching demon. Others beg for mercy from Jizō, who appears here as a monk. Another scene in an upper register of the painting shows individuals kneeling before the King of Hell, who sits at a large table. He is flanked by attendants that assess the various sins committed by the deceased in his or her previous life.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art