Wooden Seated Amitabha Buddha Triad of Yongmunsa Temple, Yecheon

This wooden triad of seated Buddha figures is carved fully in the round, in the same technique used for the Buddha and bodhisattva images of the wood-carved altarpiece housed alongside it. On the main image the usnisa (the fleshy protuberance on a Buddha's crown) is omitted, and a crescent-shaped gyeju, a jewelled ornament, is shown at the centre of the head; the body is solid and dignified, yet every part is modelled with soft, rounded forms. The robe, which covers both shoulders, is so thick that the outline of the body beneath it is barely visible, and its folds are extremely simplified, giving a somewhat schematic effect. This confirms that the main image was made at the same time and by the same sculptor as the wood-carved altarpiece, though its bodily curves are more organic and its execution more accomplished. An inscription recording the making of the work, written in ink on the base, reads "康熙二十三年甲子季" (the gapja year, the twenty-third year of the Kangxi reign era), confirming that it was made in 1684, the tenth year of King Sukjong. These sculptures are therefore an important source for understanding the sculptural style of the late seventeenth century, giving them very high historical significance.

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Where it is

Region

Yecheon, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물