Buddhist Painting of Sangwonsa Temple, Hamchang (Four Buddhas)

This is a Buddhist painting of a distinctive format that compresses the assembly scenes of four separate Buddhas — the Medicine Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, and Maitreya Buddha — into a single composition. Starting from the top of the painting and moving anticlockwise, the Medicine Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, and Maitreya Buddha are arranged in sequence, with standing bodhisattvas and the Four Heavenly Kings depicted below them, and an inscription explaining the painting written at the very bottom. The Medicine Buddha holds a medicine jar in his left hand, resting on his knee, while Amitabha Buddha is surrounded by his eight great bodhisattvas. In the spaces around the four Buddhas, the painting is densely filled with figures of bodhisattvas, the Four Heavenly Kings, and various sentient beings. This composition of four Buddhas derives from the belief in the four directional stone Buddhas, and combines two purposes: praying for the repose of the dead and for the wellbeing of the living. Painted in 1562, the seventeenth year of King Myeongjong of Joseon, this work was commissioned by Pungsanjeong Yi Jong-rin (1536–1611) to pray for the repose of his maternal grandfather, Gwon Chan. It prays for the repose of six people including Gwon Chan and Yi Jong-rin's grandmother, Lady Suk-won of the Yi clan, and for the wellbeing of nine people including Lady Yun, presumed to be Gwon Chan's wife, and Yi Jong-rin's father, Deokyanggun, and his wife. It is thought that, having experienced a series of deaths among those around him, Yi Jong-rin had this painting made to seek comfort through the power of the Buddha. Because its inscriptions survive almost intact, this painting greatly aids the understanding of the circumstances surrounding its creation, including who commissioned it and why. With its production date firmly established and its distinctive composition, it is a rare and valuable example of Joseon Buddhist painting.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물