Wooden Shakyamuni Buddha Triad and Clay 16 Arhat Statues (set) of Songgwangsa Temple, Suncheon

In the Eungjindang Hall of Songgwangsa Temple, twenty-seven statues are enshrined together: a Shakyamuni Buddha Triad, the disciples Ananda and Kasyapa, the Sixteen Arhats, Indra, Brahma, Vajra guardians, and attendant messenger figures. Apart from the standing Maitreya Bodhisattva, the remaining twenty-six statues are known to have been made by sculptor-monks including Eungwon, active in the Jeolla region in the seventeenth century, and an inscription on the pedestal of a messenger statue shows that they were produced in 1624, the second year of King Injo. The triad is composed of Shakyamuni, Maitreya and Dipankara Bodhisattva in the sugi samjon, or 'prophecy triad', format, a representative type of Three Ages Buddha imagery in the Joseon period. The principal image continues the sculptural tradition of the early Joseon period, resembling the fifteenth-century gilt-bronze seated Buddha found in the portable shrine of Sujongsa Temple, while showing a gentle expression and a soft, ample body; overall it conveys a strong sense of stability, making it an outstanding example of early seventeenth-century sculpture. The Sixteen Arhat statues were made using a clay-over-wooden-core technique. Few complete sets of Sixteen Arhat statues survive intact from the Goryeo and early Joseon periods, so the fact that this Songgwangsa set preserves all sixteen figures makes it especially valuable.

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Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물