Seated Gilt-bronze Samantabhadra Bodhisattva of Seongbulsa Temple

This gilt-bronze bodhisattva image is a seated statue of Samantabhadra enshrined to the proper right of the main altar in the Daeungjeon Hall of Seongbulsa Temple, at 369-68 Buam-dong, Jongno-gu. It sits in the full lotus position on an elephant pedestal, a typical form for a seated image of Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra is the bodhisattva symbolising compassion, one of the two essential qualities of a buddha, wisdom and compassion, while Manjusri symbolises wisdom; Manjusri, placed on the left, and Samantabhadra, placed on the right, are known to flank Sakyamuni Buddha or Vairocana Buddha as their two attendant emanations. It is unclear whether this image, now enshrined at Seongbulsa Temple, was originally made as the right-hand attendant of a Sakyamuni Buddha or of a Vairocana Buddha, but it appears to have become separated from a triad in which it once served in that role. Images of Samantabhadra seated on an elephant pedestal are rare, with only a handful of examples surviving in Korea. After the Goryeo period most Buddhist images used lotus-flower pedestals, and elephant pedestals fell out of use, making elephant-mounted Samantabhadra images especially scarce. Known examples with elephant pedestals include the stone Samantabhadra that served as right-hand attendant of the stone Vairocana triad at Beopsusa Temple, the Samantabhadra that served as right-hand attendant of the stone Vairocana triad at Bulguksa Temple, a clay image at Seongjusa Temple, and the Samantabhadra serving as right-hand attendant within the Sakyamuni triad of the wooden Buddhist shrine at Songgwangsa Temple. This gilt-bronze Samantabhadra riding an elephant is related to the late-Yuan/early-Ming style of China, and in particular to the Lama-style (Tibetan Buddhist-influenced) gilt-bronze bodhisattva images of the Xuande era (1426-1435) of the Ming dynasty; in view of these features it is also comparable to bodhisattva images of the late Goryeo-early Joseon transition period, particularly those excavated at Geumgangsan Mountain, and can be estimated to date from around 1400. The repeated mention of "the wife of the Kim family" in the inscription likewise supports a late Goryeo-early Joseon date, a point that will need further discussion; for now, in connection with the late-Yuan/early-Ming style, the image is provisionally dated to the late Goryeo-early Joseon period, around 1400. This is a large gilt-bronze bodhisattva image, 150 cm in total height, with the bodhisattva figure alone measuring 72 cm, quite different from the small, 16-18 cm gilt-bronze bodhisattva images held by the National Museum of Korea and the Horim Museum, and it is an outstanding work of sculptural form. Not only is a gilt-bronze Samantabhadra complete with its elephant mount extremely rare, but the image survives in almost perfect condition, apart from two or three holes in the bodhisattva's pedestal and a slight chip to the tip of the elephant's tusks.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산