AMIDA-NYORAI Buddha

Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Buddha) is the central deity of Pure Land Buddhism, one of the most widely venerated Buddhist figures in Japan, and a frequent subject in both painting and sculpture across centuries of Japanese religious art. This print, distinguished from a companion work by its numbering, likely depicts a sculptural representation of Amida — perhaps a statue encountered in a specific Kyoto temple context — rendered with attention to the formal qualities of the carved or cast image: the ushnisha crown, downcast eyes, and mudra hand position associated with Amida iconography. Nishijima's approach to religious subjects typically maintains the respectful documentary distance of an artist interested in architecture and material culture rather than devotional image-making. The sculptural form would be set within its architectural environment — a temple interior, a garden niche, a weathered stone setting — with the surrounding space lending context and scale. The print's existence as a numbered variant suggests slight compositional or coloristic differences from the primary version.