Gilt-bronze Seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva of Seonunsa Temple, Gochang

This gilt-bronze seated image of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is enshrined at Seonunsa Temple, which was founded in the reign of King Jinheung of Silla and rebuilt in the fifth year of King Gwanghaegun (1613); the surface of the bronze figure is gilded. The bodhisattva wears a hood on its head, and a thick band wound around the forehead covers the ears and hangs down to the abdomen. It is of the same form as the Seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva of Seonunsa Temple (Treasure) enshrined at the temple's Dosoram Hermitage. The broad, full face has small eyes, nose and mouth. The neck, marked with deeply creased triple folds (samdo, three lines customarily carved on the neck of Buddhist figures), is short, giving an impression of being drawn in. The chest appears dignified, but the body's contours are concealed beneath heavy robes. The right hand is raised to shoulder height with the thumb and middle finger bent as if about to touch, while the left hand rests against the abdomen with the thumb and middle finger slightly bent, both rendered in a relatively realistic manner. The robes are heavy and decorative: the two-tiered folds at the shoulder, the knotted sash beneath them, and the vertical folds on the arms are all somewhat formulaic. In particular, the parallel treatment of the folds at the legs and the horizontal hem across the broad chest resemble the Buddha images carved on the pagoda of Wongaksa Temple, made in the thirteenth year of King Sejo (1467). Judging from the hood, the square and full face, and the formulaic, horizontal treatment of the drapery, the bodhisattva is presumed to have been made in the early Joseon period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gochang, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물