Amida standing in abhaya-varadamudrā

The figure of the Amithāba Buddha (Amida in Japanese), who descends from the Western Paradise to welcome his faithful devotees, is a major iconographic theme of the Pure Land sect (Jōdo-shu). The standing figure of the Buddha, no longer seated in silent meditation and recollection, but actively involved in a raigō to welcome his devotees and guide them to his paradise, radiates warmth and compassion yet remains magnificent and imposing. The right hand, missing from this sculpture, should be in the abhayamudrā pose, a gesture of reassurance to his faithful. The left hand, directed downwards in a gesture of giving and offering, is held in the vitarkamudra pose, a gesture of teaching.
The statue has two 2.5 cm tenons beneath the feet: the original pedestal was not preserved, and the new black lacquered base has a moulded parallelepiped shape (21.5 x 37.5 x 35 cm). The overall height of the statue on this base is 110.5 cm.
The statue’s feet are probably not original and the body was partially re-gilded in the 17th or 18th century.