Gold Standing Buddha from Guhwang-dong, Gyeongju

Found in the reliquary placed in the three-storey pagoda at the Hwangboksa Temple Site, together with the gold seated Buddha from Guhwang-dong. It is 14 cm high overall, of pure gold, and keeps both its pedestal and its mandorla. A large topknot rises from the smooth head; the long face is full and merciful. The eyes look straight out, the nose is sharp and a smile spreads at the mouth. A thickly rendered robe hangs from rather narrow shoulders, with U-shaped folds at the front. The skirt flares slightly to both sides at the ankles, a trace of the Three Kingdoms period manner. The right hand is raised palm outward; the left holds the hem of the robe. The mandorla, standing for the light from the Buddha's body, is a circle behind the head within a border of flame, making a jewel shape overall. Light radiates from a lotus at its centre, and the flame at the edge is finely pierced. The pedestal was made separately and fitted: a large inverted lotus on a twelve-sided base. The proportion of head to body and the form of the folds suggest a new early Unified Silla style, a step beyond the Buddhas of the late Three Kingdoms period. The inscription on the reliquary indicates it was placed there when the pagoda was raised in 692, and a date so nearly certain makes it a benchmark for the study of Unified Silla sculpture.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보