Amitabha Hanging Scroll Painting

A gwaebul is a type of Buddhist painting in scroll form that is hung outdoors and used in ritual when a dharma assembly is held in the open air. This hanging scroll was made in 1882, the 19th year of Emperor Gojong of Joseon, at the vow of Kim Si-dae, and depicts the Amitabha Triad, with Amitabha Buddha as the principal deity. It follows the format of hanging scrolls produced in the Seoul area and the neighbouring Gyeonggi region in the late nineteenth century, measuring 5.7 m in height and 3.29 m in width, painted in colour on hemp cloth. On the large canvas, Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva stand filling the composition, and below them stand Ananda and Kasyapa, representatives of the Buddha's Ten Great Disciples, with palms joined in prayer. At the bottom of the composition are placed the boy Musu riding a lion and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva riding an elephant. The colouring makes extensive use of red, yellow, blue and green, and in particular the bodies of the triad and the lower section are rendered in gold, giving a striking impression. The brushed lines are relatively rough and stylised, and the painting is executed so as to fill the composition densely. The weighty rendering of the figures and the vivid colouring reveal the style of Buddhist painting characteristic of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region in the late Joseon period.

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Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산