The Japanese Buddhist sculpture of Jizō Bosatsu is an outstanding example of the MOK's Buddhist sculpture collection. It became famous through the discovery of the “votive offerings inside the sculpture” (Japanese: Zōnai nōnyūhin) in the early 1980s. The discovery of numerous texts, thousands of votive prints, three small images and a reliquary bag allowed the work to be dated to 1249 and identified as the earliest work by the famous Buddhist sculptor Kōen (康円) to date.
The presentation will highlight the location of the votive offerings in the inner space of the religious artwork. What does the placement of an object reveal about the value attributed to it? New technical studies will be used for this purpose. On the other hand, the ritual character of the Buddhist text documents will be examined more closely, focusing on their text versions and materialities. The new findings on the handwritten textual witnesses enable a more precise religious-historical context of the sculpture.