Budailate 1400s · Study 1988.17

Context from the museum

The Zen monk Jonan Etetsu is recorded as the 183rd abbot of Tō fuku-ji temple in the eastern hills of Kyoto, one of the earliest and most influential Zen institutions in medieval Japan. Otherwise, the only biographical information known to date has been gleaned from a few inscriptions on paintings documenting his friendship with another eminent monk, Ryō ’an Keigo (1425–1514), and two paintings bearing Jonan’s own poetic inscriptions. This image of Hotei (Chinese: Budai), a legendary, 10th-century Chan (Zen) monk, is one of those paintings. In Japan the image of the mirthful, pot-bellied Hotei enjoyed great popularity from the 14th century onward. Zen literature and popular folklore merged to create a storehouse of attractive fiction concerning this delightful character’s worldly adventures as a kind of itinerant Santa Claus and more symbolically as the future Buddha, Miroku, in disguise. For the Japanese, Hotei came to represent an unfettered path to spiritual enlightenment. The identity of the artist of this painting is unknown, although it may have been Etetsu, who attained a high rank within the 15th-century Zen community.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting measurement for Budai is 24.8 cm wide and 51 cm high, equivalent to approximately 9.8 × 20.1 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.49:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.13 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 8.3% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 137.6 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Budai in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, hanging scroll; ink on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 24.8 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?