By envy I do not mean to imply jealousy, but rather envy in the senese of having a desire to be like. Envy may have been a poor choice of words, but the thought is the same.

To argue that a Buddhist does not envy Buddha in this regard, then, would be silly.

I seem to have forgotten the name of the art-style in question, but I'm fairly certain it flourished during he Edo period.