Shinto Deity Japan, Heian period, 900s zelkova wood, 33 1/2 inches (85.1 cm) high Funds from Edith Trimble Zinn bequest in memory of her husband, Comdr. Ralph Theodore Zinn 1980.95

One of the oldest and largest Shinto sculptures outside of Japan, this male deity is carved from a single tree trunk and preserves its original girth without attachments or joinery. Shinto art is sometimes called an "invisible art" because its images and sacred objects were intentionally concealed in shrines, where they were worshiped unseen by devotees.


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