Artistic Depictions of Purpose

From a series of prints titled A Short Pictorial Biography of the Founder of the Nichiren Sect. The men are trapped in a vicious storm when a religious mantram appears in the waves. The founder, Nichiren, meets it, and by extension, the trial of the storm, with strength and purpose, while his crew shrinks from it in fear.

In this print, the subject Nichiren displays the strength of a leader as a fantastical manifestation of his religious purpose appears before him. It is both a reminder of the burden he bears and a source of stability in the terrible storm.