Hanging Painting of Naesosa Temple (The Vulture Peak Assembly)

This is a Yeongsanhoe gwaebultaeng depicting the scene of Sakyamuni Buddha preaching on Vulture Peak. A gwaebul is a large Buddhist painting hung in the courtyard in front of the main hall for great ceremonies and rites at a temple. Measuring 10.50 m long and 8.97 m wide, this gwaebul places the principal image of Sakyamuni at the centre, filling the picture, flanked by Manjusri and Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas, with Prabhutaratna and Amitabha Buddhas and the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta standing behind them, forming a composition of seven figures. Each figure has a round face and a well-proportioned build, with the cheeks, eye areas, chin and hands and feet rendered in pale pink to give a bright appearance. Red and green predominate, with light tones added to create a light, cheerful feel. Painted in 1700, the twenty-sixth year of King Sukjong, this gwaebul stands out for the precision of its linework, which extends even to the hairs inside the nostrils, and for the splendid patterns and colouring of the robes. It shows the typical characteristics of the late seventeenth to early eighteenth centuries, and since each figure is individually labelled with its name, it is a valuable work that plays an important role in the study of Buddhist painting.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buan, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물