Eleven-headed Kannon

Unknown artist

In this scroll painting, Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion, descends from Paradise to receive the soul of a Buddhist who has passed away. His clothes are richly decorated in gold patterns. Kannon appears in many different forms. This eleven-headed form represents the ten stages of the bodhisattva’s development, culminating in the total enlightenment of the Buddha – portrayed here as the topmost head.