Hanging Painting and the Sketch of Gaeamsa Temple (The Vulture Peak Assembly)

This is a Yeongsanhoe gwaebultaeng depicting the scene of Sakyamuni preaching on Vulture Peak. A gwaebul is a huge Buddhist painting hung in the courtyard in front of the main hall for great ceremonies and rites at a temple, for worshippers to pray before. The Yeongsanhoesangdo, a scene of Sakyamuni preaching, is a subject frequently painted on gwaebul. Measuring 1,321 cm in length and 917 cm in width, the painting shows Sakyamuni at the centre flanked by the bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra, with the Buddha Prabhutaratna, the Buddha Amitabha, and the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta behind them, together with two small seated Buddha images. Sakyamuni stands with five rays of light emanating from the crown of his head, wearing his robe in the ugyeonpyeondan style, which bares the right shoulder. The faces and shoulders of each figure are rendered with angular forms that give a somewhat rigid impression, the eyebrows droop, and the lines are extremely fine and refined, producing a strong overall impression. The colouring is chiefly red and green with gold, and the addition of ultramarine creates a contrast of colours. Painted in 1749, the 25th year of King Yeongjo of Joseon, with the participation of the monk-painter Uigyeom, it is an outstanding work whose composition filling the entire picture plane, rigid forms and intense colours display the stylistic features of the mid-18th century; because its date of production is firmly established, it plays an important role in the study of Korean Buddhist painting. The underdrawing, or sketch, for the Gaeamsa Temple gwaebultaeng also survives; as the only such sketch currently identified, it offers great help in understanding the production process and brushwork of gwaebul paintings of the period.

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Where it is

Region

Buan, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물