Hanging Painting of Ansimsa Temple (The Vulture Peak Assembly)

A gwaebul of the Vulture Peak Assembly, showing Shakyamuni preaching on Vulture Peak. A gwaebul is a huge Buddhist painting hung in the courtyard before the main hall for worship when a temple holds a great Dharma assembly or ritual. This one at Ansimsa is 866 by 485.6 cm. Around the principal Buddha, Shakyamuni, the bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra, the many beings gathered to hear him and the Four Heavenly Kings guarding him are arranged symmetrically. Shakyamuni sits at the centre in a robe leaving the right shoulder bare, fingers pointing to the ground in the gesture of subduing demons. Details such as the elongated arms and hands are not refined, but the angular face with its large features looks stern, and the overall proportions are stable. Lavish flower ornament on the mandorla sets him off. The figures around him are drawn smaller towards the top, giving a sense of ascent. The colours are mainly red and green, laid on thickly so that they do not look bright, and there are traces of overpainting in places. Made in 1652, the third year of King Hyojong, three years after the gwaebul of Bosalsa in Cheongju and similar to it in composition, it is a precious work for the study of Buddhist painting in Chungcheong in the mid-seventeenth century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

National Treasure · 국보