Gilt-bronze Buddha Plaques Excavated from Anapji Pond

The ten Buddha plaques excavated from Anapji Pond, including a Buddhist triad, show excellent carving technique, realistic representation of the figures and a pronounced sense of three-dimensionality. Stylistically they well illustrate the features of the international sculptural style shared by Unified Silla, China and Japan at the end of the seventh century. In iconography and style they can be compared with the plaques among the Horyuji Temple Offering Treasures in Japan, and with the principal Buddha image of the Amitabha Pure Land on the west wall of Horyuji's Golden Hall. The realistic sculptural expression seen in the round, plump faces and the naturally rendered folds of the robes reflects the style of Buddhist statues at the height of Tang-dynasty China, while also representing well the outstanding expressive power of Unified Silla Buddhist sculpture in the late seventh century. The ten images are presumed to have formed a set of one Buddhist triad and four bodhisattva images, attached to structures such as two small wooden shrines and enshrined within them. Outstanding in casting technique and skill, the ten Buddha plaques from Anapji Pond are important examples of the international sculptural style newly introduced in early Unified Silla at the end of the seventh century, and are of great value as cultural heritage; they are also important material for comparing the styles of Korean, Chinese and Japanese Buddhist sculpture of the period and for understanding how these styles were transmitted and influenced one another.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물