Hongcheonsutasa Temple Vulture Peak Assembly Painting

A taenghwa is a type of Buddhist painting made on cloth or paper and mounted as a hanging scroll or in a frame; it usually refers to a painting hung behind the principal image enshrined within a temple hall. This Vulture Peak Assembly painting is the painting behind the Vairocana Buddha enshrined in the Daejeokgwangjeon Hall of Sutasa Temple; it is painted in colour on a silk ground and measures 278 cm in height and 263 cm in width. It depicts the scene of Sakyamuni Buddha preaching the Lotus Sutra on Vulture Peak, with Sakyamuni at the centre flanked by ten bodhisattvas, the Four Heavenly Kings and other figures. The central Sakyamuni Buddha wears a robe that bares the right shoulder, and his hands form the earth-touching mudra. The robe, painted red, is lavishly decorated with various patterns. The protuberance at the crown of the head is high and pointed, and the hair is rendered in small, curling snail-shell curls. The halo behind the body is drawn large in the shape of a lotus bud, and the pedestal is decorated with two layers of white lotus petals. To the left and right of Sakyamuni stand the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Manjusri, holding a white lotus and a ruyi sceptre respectively, and above them are placed eight bodhisattvas each with a round halo behind the head. Below, the two pairs of Four Heavenly Kings figures have the gilded parts of their armour rendered with a sense of volume; their nearly square faces, small noses and mouths, and moustaches and beards show well the characteristics of late Joseon Buddhist painting. Standing at the Buddha's shoulders are Kasyapa, depicted as an old monk, and Ananda, depicted as a young man. An inscription at the bottom records that this painting was made in 1762, the 38th year of King Yeongjo's reign, by the painter-monk Jinchal and others. It is currently on display in the Sutasa Temple Museum.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hongcheon, Gangwon

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산