十二天像(火天)|One of the Twelve Devas: Katen

Created in Japan in 1346, this hanging scroll depicting Katen (the Fire Deva) was produced by an anonymous artist. The work is executed as a hand-colored print on paper and serves as one of the Twelve Devas within a religious context. While the specific circumstances of its original commission and the identity of the patron remain unrecorded in available documentation, the piece has been preserved as part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum currently houses the scroll, which measures 76.5 cm in height and 32.1 cm in width.

The hanging scroll depicting One of the Twelve Devas: Katen is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It entered the museum's collection in 1943 under accession number 43.151. The work was exhibited in the museum's 1944 exhibition "Japanese Religious Paintings" and again in the 1975 exhibition "Japanese Art of the Edo Period".

The work is a hand‑colored paper print mounted as a hanging scroll, titled “One of the Twelve Devas: Katen.” It portrays a bearded figure in a brown robe, seated on a circular mat with his right leg crossed over his left, holding a staff in his right hand and a rosary in his left. A triangular motif appears on his chest, and the background is composed of red and white patterned fields.

In Japanese Buddhist visual culture, the twelve devas serve as protectors of the Dharma, each associated with specific virtues and iconographic attributes. Katen’s representation aligns with other contemporary depictions that combine didactic symbolism with aesthetic restraint, intended for contemplation within a domestic or temple setting.