Portrait of Thirty-three Patriarchs in Seonamsa Temple, Suncheon

Based on the Jodangjip (祖堂集, Patriarchal Hall Anthology), this work depicts the thirty-three patriarchs of Seon Buddhism, from the Venerable Kasyapa to the Sixth Patriarch Huineng of China, originally arranged across eleven panels; it is the only painting of the Thirty-three Patriarchs to survive in Korea. Of the eleven original panels, only seven now remain. They were painted in 1753 by five monk-painters including Eungi, continuing the painting style of Uigyeom, who had actively introduced ink-wash techniques into Buddhist painting in the mid-eighteenth century. The iconography of the thirty-three patriarchs depicted here is modelled on Ming-dynasty Chinese painting manuals, the Sancai Tuhui (三才圖會) and the Hongshi Xianfo Qizong (洪氏仙佛奇踪), making the work important also for showing the relationship between the transmission of such painting manuals and Buddhist painting iconography in the late Joseon period. Together with its rarity as the sole surviving painting of the Thirty-three Seon Patriarchs, it demonstrates excellence in the arrangement of its iconography and in its refined brushwork.

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Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물