Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha from Seonsan-eup, Gumi

Excavated in 1976 during construction on the hill behind Bonghan 2-dong, Goa-myeon, Seonsan, North Gyeongsang, together with two gilt-bronze standing Avalokitesvara bodhisattvas (national treasures). According to local accounts, the images were found by a farmer some seventy years earlier at a nearby place called Daebatgol and reburied a few years later where they were found. Part of the left hand and left foot are now missing, and there is a little rust on the face and chest, but the gilding is in fairly good condition. Small snail-shell curls are applied to the head, with a large topknot above. The full face is serene, the eyes, nose and mouth rendered in sharp lines. The robe over both shoulders clings to the body, showing its contours. Its hem forms parallel U-shaped folds over the belly, then divides symmetrically at the legs and falls to the ankles. The right hand is raised, palm forward; the left points down, also showing the palm. Soft and simple in form and detail, its tidy folds giving a neat impression, it shows the vitality of Unified Silla Buddhas. But the somewhat stiff posture, the archaic smile still on its face, the Udayana-style robe and the hollow casting with a small core-pin hole at the back suggest a date from the later seventh to the early eighth century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suseong-gu, Daegu

Designation

National Treasure · 국보