Hanging Painting of Yongmunsa Temple, Yecheon (The Vulture Peak Assembly)

The Hanging Painting of Yongmunsa Temple, Yecheon (The Vulture Peak Assembly) is a gwaebultaeng, a huge Buddhist painting hung outdoors for large-scale ceremonies. It takes the form of a five-figure composition, set against a background of a standing triad of Buddha and bodhisattva images, with the disciples Kashyapa and Ananda placed to the left and right of the principal Buddha's head. Of the triad, the principal Buddha wears a red outer robe covering both shoulders (tonggyeon style) over a bright greyish-blue inner garment; the head alone measures 180 cm in height, and the halo behind the head is as much as 273 cm wide, so large that the figure occupies almost the entire painted surface, which is over ten metres tall. The red outer robe is neatly patterned throughout with round motifs of phoenixes, flowers, lattice and lotus designs, while the inner garment is decorated with white lotus patterns. Attendant bodhisattva images are placed to the lower left and right of the principal Buddha; the two figures differ only slightly in the gestures of their hands and the rendering of their celestial scarves (cheonui), while their turned postures facing the principal Buddha, the stance of their feet set apart, the size and form of the figures, their crowns and their hand-held attributes are almost perfectly symmetrical. At the top of the painting, to the left and right of the principal Buddha's head, sit the disciples Kashyapa and Ananda, and the background is filled with bands of yellow, red, blue and green coloured clouds set against a deep blue sky, giving a sense of depth. At the lower centre of the painting is an inscription praying for the safety and well-being of the royal family, and a production record (hwagi) survives at the lower edge of the border. This gwaebultaeng was made in 1705, relatively early for works of this type. The rounded, broad face conveys a sense of gravity, and the slightly raised shoulders show well the transitional features between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is also notable for showing a new iconographic example in which a Buddha figure, rather than a bodhisattva, holds an attribute (a lotus branch), making it a work of great scholarly value for the study of Buddhist paintings of the Joseon period.

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Where it is

Region

Yecheon, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물