Living Images – Japanese Buddhist Icons in Context Sharf Sharf Hardback

Living ImagesJapanese Buddhist Icons in Context\nAuthor(s): Robert H. Sharf, Elizabeth Horton Sharf\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Stanford University Press, United States\nImprint: Stanford University Press\nISBN-13: 9780804739894, 978-0804739894\nSynopsis\nBuddhist images are ubiquitous in Japan, yet they are rarely accorded much attention in studies of Buddhist monastic traditions. Scholars of religion tend to regard Buddhist images as mere symbols or representations of religious ideals, commemorations of saints and patriarchs, ancillary aids to meditative practice, or the focus of lay piety. Art historians approach these images as works of art suitable for stylistic and iconographic analysis. Yet neither of these groups of scholars has adequately appreciated the centrality and significance of images and image worship in Japanese monastic practice.\n\n The essays in this volume focus on the historical, institutional, and ritual context of a number of Japanese Buddhist paintings, sc.