Buddhist Painting of Girimsa Temple, Gyeongju (Vairocana Buddha Triad)

This painting is a Vairocana Buddha Triad Assembly enshrined as the altar painting behind the Buddha images in Daejeokgwangjeon Hall of Girimsa Temple, arranged with the Vairocana Buddha Assembly at the centre, the Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) Assembly on the left, and the Amitabha Buddha Assembly on the right. Triad-assembly paintings commonly produced in the Joseon period usually take the form either of the Three Ages Buddhas (Sakyamuni at the centre, Bhaisajyaguru on the left, Amitabha on the right) or the Three Bodies of Buddha (Vairocana at the centre, Rocana on the left, Sakyamuni on the right); this painting, however, combines Vairocana, Amitabha and Bhaisajyaguru, presenting a distinctive format that merges the two schemes. This arrangement first appeared in China during the Southern Song dynasty, and in Korea it is already found in 16th-century sculpture, such as the clay Vairocana Buddha Triad of Girimsa Temple; but among Buddhist paintings the Girimsa work is one of the earliest known examples, giving it great documentary value. This triad-assembly painting overall places a great many figures within a single scene: around the central principal Buddha, the figures rise from lower to higher rank as the composition moves from the bottom to the top of the picture, growing progressively smaller and so giving the scene a sense of perspective and three-dimensional space. Although traces of later repainting are visible in places, the colouring — red, green, yellow, sky blue and grass green set against an ochre ground — is well balanced, giving fine expression to the Buddha's world. The painting was made in 1718, the 44th year of King Sukjong's reign, by the painter-monks Cheono, Geummyeong, Choehun, Jeokjo, Jisun, Johan and Imhan; Cheono and Imhan were among the leading monk-painters of 18th-century Gyeongsang Province, underlining the true worth of the Girimsa painting.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물