Keywords
Art History
Sculpture
A gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面, representing a Brahmin (the highest caste in India known for its scholars and priests). In the gigaku performance, Baramon portrays a priest who waggishly performs while washing clothes, a satiric comment on the clergy. Only one mask inscribed with the name Baramon remains in the *Shōsōin 正倉院. It shows a wrinkled old man with heavy eyelids and brows, long nose, and gentle smile. One mask of Baramon in Hōryūji 法隆寺 appears more like Taikofu 太孤父, while others are difficult to distinguish from some Suikojū 酔胡従 masks. See *Taiko 太孤, *Suiko 酔胡.
