Ragora, from the series Ten Great Disciples of Shaka (Shaka jûdai deshi)

Series:: Ten Great Disciples of Shaka
Date:: 1939
Medium:: Woodblock print
Edition:: Self-printed
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Complete multi-panel set or suite in excellent condition: $100,000–$500,000+
Individual panel from major series: $20,000–$80,000
Single significant work: $5,000–$20,000

Description

Ragora — Rahula, the son of Shakyamuni Buddha who became his father's disciple and is counted among the Ten Great Disciples — appears in this 1939 print from the "Ten Great Disciples of Shaka" series. Rahula's identity as the Buddha's own son gave his discipleship a particular biographical weight: the man who might have inherited a kingdom instead inherited the Dharma, following his father into the homeless life of the wandering monk. This tension between worldly inheritance and spiritual inheritance would have resonated with Munakata, who understood his own artistic vocation as a kind of spiritual calling that superseded conventional expectations.

More Prints by Shiko Munakata

Flying Over the Mountains (Yamagoe), from the series "The Tale of the Auklet (Uto Hanga-kan)"

1960

Woodblock print

Bodhisattva Manjusri (Monju bosatsu no saku), from the series Ten Great Disciples of the Buddha Sakyamuni (Shaka jûdai deshi), Shôwa period, undated (block carved 1948)

Shôwa period, 1926-1989

Woodblock print

Ragora (Rahula), from the series "Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (Nibosatsu Shaka judai deshi)"

1939-68

Woodblock print

Ubari (Upali), from the series "Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (Nibosatsu Shaka judai deshi)"

1939 (printed 1955)

Woodblock print

More Figures Prints

Shamyris, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

Woodblock print

Celebrating the Good Harvest: Felicitations for a Thousand Ages (Nôhônen, Chiyo no kotobuki)

Woodblock print

Midas, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

Woodblock print

Gundari Myôô, Shôwa period, dated 1962

Woodblock print

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Sōsaku-Hanga: The Creative-Print Movement Japanese Ghost and Yōkai Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Ragora, from the series Ten Great Disciples of Shaka (Shaka jûdai deshi) was created by Shiko Munakata (棟方志功) in 1939.

Yes — Ragora, from the series Ten Great Disciples of Shaka (Shaka jûdai deshi) is part of the Ten Great Disciples of Shaka series by Shiko Munakata.

Ragora, from the series Ten Great Disciples of Shaka (Shaka jûdai deshi) depicts figures, religious, and mythology.