Hanging Painting of Yongmunsa Temple, Namhae

The Hanging Painting of Yongmunsa Temple, Namhae is a gwaebultaeng, a huge Buddhist painting hung outdoors for large-scale ceremonies, and shows a triad composition with only attendant bodhisattvas placed to the left and right of the principal Buddha. Beside the principal Buddha at the centre, the bodhisattva to the left stands facing forward, holding a ruyi sceptre, while the bodhisattva to the right stands in the same posture, supporting a lotus branch. The principal Buddha at the centre is a standing image with the right shoulder bared and the right arm hanging down at length, the left hand raised to chest height, and both feet set apart on a lotus pedestal. The broad, rounded face, with small eyes, nose and mouth and a rigid expression showing little trace of a smile, together with the level, angular shoulders, are typical stylistic features found mainly in Buddhist paintings from the late eighteenth century onward. Given the crown worn and the ruyi sceptre held, the bodhisattva to the left is presumed to be Munsu (Manjushri) Bodhisattva, the attendant traditionally placed to Shakyamuni's left. Though the shoulders narrow and the feet appear small in relation to the size of the head, giving a somewhat constricted impression, the long, thick folds of the celestial scarf (cheonui) draped over the arms lend the figure an overall sense of stability. The bodhisattva to the right is rendered in a similar manner to the one on the left. A production record (hwagi) survives at the lower part of the painting. This gwaebultaeng shows well the typical style of Buddhist paintings from the mid-eighteenth century onward, in the form and expression of its figures and their bodily proportions, and its somewhat rigid yet harmonious, refined technique of expression gives it great value as material for the study of Buddhist paintings from the mid-eighteenth century onward.

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Where it is

Region

Namhae, Gyeongnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물