In our December 16, 2020, Webinar, Dr. John T. Carpenter, Mary Griggs Burke Curator of Japanese Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, talks about Quelling Demons and Disease in Japanese Art. A former JASA Board Member, Dr. Carpenter has chosen, for this occasion in this unusual year, to share his recent scholarly exploration of a most timely subject.
Throughout Japanese history, records show that epidemics of smallpox and other forms of disease brought distress, suffering and death on a frighteningly regular basis. The pestilence associated with muggy summer weather in Kyoto led to the creation of the Gion Festival, which is said to have originated during an epidemic in ancient times as part of a purification ritual to appease the gods, and whose floats and processions of costumed performers were captured in colorful genre paintings. As with all cultures, Japanese have turned to doctors, spiritual healers of all variety, and even to quacks for miracle cures. Moreover, people have prayed to religious deities—whether Yakushi Nyorai (Medicine Master Buddha), or the Shinto god Gozu Tennō —and a complex iconography represented in sculptural and pictorial representations by master artists evolved. Noted painters often took on commissions to create works that were believed to have talismanic effect, especially of Shōki the Demon Queller (Zhong Kui in Chinese). Katsushika Hokusai’s Red Shōki in The Met’s collection, thought to have been created in response to an 1847 smallpox epidemic, is a prime example. This talk treats these and other artistic manifestations of the talismanic potential of art and performance during a time of pandemic, with the hope that JASA members likewise can find solace during this anxious holiday season.