Gilt-bronze Standing Bodhisattva (1963-1)

The Gilt-bronze Standing Bodhisattva is a bronze Buddhist image gilded on its surface, held in the collection of the National Museum of Korea. It wears a jewelled crown engraved with a decoration resembling a honeysuckle scroll pattern, and its face is rather elongated. The rendering of the face is highly distinctive: narrow, slit eyes, lips pushed slightly forward, and prominent cheekbones combine to give a strongly indigenous, folk-like impression. The long neck, lacking the three curved lines usually carved there on Buddhist images, together with the cylindrical body, reflects features typical of Three Kingdoms-period statues. The hem of the robe flares out symmetrically on both sides like a bird's wing feathers, an effect that is highly artificial and schematic and lacks realism. The large beaded ornament draped over both shoulders crosses in an X shape below the waist, giving the impression of hanging too low. The pedestal, from which much of the gilding has worn away, is circular and single-tiered, carved with an eight-petalled lotus pattern with relatively sharp-tipped petals. It is said only to have been excavated in Geochang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, and its exact origin is otherwise unknown. The symmetrically flaring robe folds, the beaded ornament, and the pose of the two hands holding a bead together all point to features characteristic of the late sixth or early seventh century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물