In Focus

Takenouchi no Sukune Meets the Dragon King of the Sea

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The extraordinary Takenouchi no Sukune, a famous warrior-statesman, is said to have lived as long as 360 years and to have served as a counselor or minister to as many as six monarchs.  Among these was the empress Jingo Kogo, whom he accompanied on an expedition to Korea.  Upon their return, he became guardian to the empress's son, the future emperor Ojin, who ascended to the throne in the year C.E.

A Javanese Ganesha

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
One propitiates Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of the Hindu god Shiva, upon entering a Hindu temple. His prominent position at the entryway is appropriate, for he is the Lord of Obstacles, able to both instigate and remove them.

Shrine

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In the interiors of temples, Hindu deities and Jain images of Jinas, liberated beings worshipped for their spiritual author­ity, were installed in shrines such as this elaborate silver-faced example. If a Hindu image were installed in this shrine, it would have been placed on a plinth so that the shrine was at eye level in the temple’s inner sanctum.

Emma-O

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Emma-O is the Japanese version of Yama, the Hindu god of death and Judge of the Dead. He was one of the Ten Kings of Buddhism (Ju-O) and leader of a panel of ten judges known as the kings of hell. Each king was believed to preside over his own court, through which the newly deceased must pass and receive judgment. 

During the Heian period (794-1185), the idea of t

An Inca (Inka) Tunic

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The following excerpt was written in 2003 by Carol Robbins, the former Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Curator of the Arts of Americas and the Pacific, for the publication Dallas Museum of Art, 100 Years.
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