Welcoming Descent of Jiz?, Bodhisattva of the Earth Matrix, early 19th century, Sakai H?itsu, Japanese, 1761 - 1828, 32 7/8 ¡Ñ 12 3/8 in. (83.5 ¡Ñ 31.43 cm) (image)60 1/2 ¡Ñ 17 3/4 in. (153.67 ¡Ñ 45.09 cm) (mount), Ink, color, and gold on silk, Japan, 19th century, Japanese Buddhists worship Jiz? as a compassionate deity with the ability to rescue suffering believers, especially those who have been reborn in hell. Here Jiz? descends from the heavens on a cloud bank in the guise of a Buddhist monk, with a shaved head and wearing the multipaneled silk garments worn by ordained monks. He carries a wish-fulfilling jewel and a golden walking staff that jingles to announce his arrival. Although Sakai H?itsu executed this painting primarily in ink and touches of gold, it is iconographically indistinguishable from painted and sculptural images of Jiz? that emerged in the 1200s, when worship of this deity became widespread in Japan. H?itsu is best known as a professional painter and reviver of the decorative, primarily nonreligious Rinpa style of painting that was popular a hundred years earlier, but he also spent the years 1797 to 1809 as a Buddhist monk, which may explain why he created a number of traditional Buddhist devotional paintings over the course of his career.