ootobide　大飛出

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Also tobide 飛出. A noh mask *noumen 能面 representing the God of Thunder, the God of Heaven, protector of Buddhism, or a ghost. As befits its august character, the ootobide is unusually large for a noh mask and painted in gold. The mask has protruding, metallic gold, circular eyeballs with crossed eyes which create an illusion that the eyes are rolling around. Crescent-shaped eyebrows are painted in black. A prominent, flattened nose, and big ears further emphasize the mask's imposing character. The mask's mouth gapes wide to show both the upper and lower teeth and the tip of a long, wide, red tongue. Apparently, ootobide was made for the play RAIDEN 雷電 in which the ghost of an angry official returns as the God of Thunder and burns down the imperial palace. Also used by the shite シテ in the second act of congratulatory plays like KAMO 加茂, ARASHIYAMA 嵐山, KOKAJI 小鍛冶, and KUZU 国栖. The Kongou 金剛 family in Kyoto owns a fine ootobide carved by Deme Zekan Yoshimitsu 出目是閑吉満 (1527-1616).

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*kijinmen 鬼神面.

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