Hanging Painting of Tongdosa Temple (Sakyamuni Buddha)

A gwaebul is a large Buddhist painting hung in the courtyard in front of the main hall of a temple for major rites and ceremonies; the Hanging Painting of Tongdosa Temple (Sakyamuni Buddha) depicts Sakyamuni holding a flower branch, standing alone. This hanging painting is bordered on both sides and along the top with a band of Sanskrit characters copied from the original scripture, within which Sakyamuni is painted standing frontally, filling the enormous picture surface. He wears a crown on his head, and has both a head halo and a body halo; above the halo, pale green and red clouds are arranged effectively against a black background, giving the composition a sense of depth. The rendering of the hands and feet is delicate, showing a supple, mature refinement, and the body halo, treated almost as the picture's ground, is decorated with peonies arranged symmetrically on either side without any other ornament, lending the composition a further cheerful mood. According to an inscription surviving in the lower corners of the painting, it was made in 1767, the forty-third year of King Yeongjo of Joseon, with Taehwal serving as the sponsoring patron and Duhun and thirteen other monk-painters taking part. The painting is generally in good condition, and is outstanding for its neat, refined brushwork, its stable and well-balanced figure, its luxurious yet harmonious colouring, and its varied and delicate patterning. It is especially notable for retaining a wooden plaque recording the painting's title as 'Sakyamuni Buddha', making it valuable material for the study of the iconography of eighteenth-century gwaebul paintings from the reigns of King Yeongjo and King Jeongjo.

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Where it is

Region

Yangsan, Gyeongnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물