Stone Seated Vairocana Buddha of Cheonhwangsa Temple, Miryang

Including the head, which was newly made to replace the damaged original, the body is close to human proportions, and the graceful shoulders, dignified chest and slender waist, rendered beneath thin drapery, heighten its realism. The robe, which bares the right shoulder, shows thin, stepped folds. Such graceful and realistic form is shared with Buddhist statues of the mid-eighth century, but the refined rendering of the thin, stepped folds is characteristic of the late eighth century. The pedestal is a distinctive lion throne of a type seen for the first time in Korea, composed of three tiers—upper, middle and lower. The upper tier has a round, disc-shaped top raised slightly, carved with an intricate beaded pattern, below which a lotus design is carved in two layers. The middle tier is a shallow round support carved with two bands. The lower tier is carved in the round with eleven lions above a double-petalled lotus design, and at the front there is a socketed support that appears to have held a ritual offering vessel such as an incense burner. It is not only an outstanding example of a stone Buddhist statue from the late eighth century but is also of great note as the only stone seated Buddha with a lion-throne pedestal, and is considered, academically, an essential statue in any account of the history of Silla sculpture.

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Where it is

Region

Sacheon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물