Nectar Ritual Painting of Anyangam Hermitage

A gamnodo, or nectar ritual painting, generally refers to a painting that depicts a food-offering ceremony performed before Buddhas and bodhisattvas to save the souls of the dead. The Nectar Ritual Painting of Anyangam Hermitage hangs on the right-hand side of the Daeungjeon Hall as one faces it, beside a painting of rebirth in the Pure Land. This painting was made in 1909 by the monk-painter Gyeongseondang Eungseok. He was a leading Buddhist painter of the period, who took part in the production of numerous Buddhist paintings, including the Guardian Deities Painting in the Geungnakbojeon Hall of Cheongnyangsa Temple, the Seven Stars Painting in the Samseonggak Hall of Mitasa Temple, the Guardian Deities Painting in the Daeungjeon Hall of Gaeunsa Temple, the Painting of King Hyeonwang in the Jijangjeon Hall of Gaeunsa Temple, the Painting of the Lone Sage in the Dokseonggak Hall of Jingwansa Temple, the Seven Stars Painting, the Painting of the Lone Sage and the Mountain God Painting in the Bukgeukbojeon Hall of Bongeunsa Temple, the painting behind the main altar in the Panjeon Hall of Bongeunsa Temple, and the Painting of the Sixteen Arhats in the Yeongsanjeon Hall of Bongeunsa Temple. Following the conventional iconography of gamnodo paintings, this work centres on an altar laden with offerings. In the upper register are the Seven Buddhas — Dabo Yeorae, Boseung Yeorae, Myosaeksin Yeorae, Eungbaksin Yeorae, Ipoe Yeorae, Gamno Yeorae and Segan Gwangdae Wideok Yeorae — flanked by Amitabha Buddha, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and Inrowang Bosal, the bodhisattva who personally guides the souls of the dead. In the lower register are shown the Six Realms of rebirth — heavenly beings, humans, asuras, spirits, animals and hell. Within this lower section a great variety of scenes from human life unfold: people fighting, a farmer leading an ox, a troupe of itinerant performers putting on a show, people undergoing punishment, and people standing trial. While the painting follows this traditional compositional scheme, it also shows features characteristic of the new iconography that emerged in gamnodo paintings of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region from the nineteenth century onward — most notably the large-scale depiction of hungry ghosts around the altar. The same treatment also appears in the gamnodo paintings of Suguksa, Buramsa and Heungguksa Temples. At the lower left and right of the painting is a dedicatory inscription recording that, in the intercalary second month of the gi-yu year, the third year of the Yunghui era of the Korean Empire (1909), the monk-painter Gyeongseondang Eungseok painted this work, which was enshrined as the Gamnojeong banner at Gamnoam Hermitage on Samgaksan Mountain. The witnessing monk was Heomudang Seonghun, the chanting monk was Hyeamdang Sujin, the painter-monk was Gyeongseondang Eungseok, and the assisting novice monk was Bongjo. The sponsors were Yi Ik-su, born in the gi-hae year, and Yi Heung-su, born in the gyemi year, who donated towards the painting's production in prayer for the rebirth in the highest rank of the Pure Land of their late mother, of the Gaeseong Kim clan, born in the sinhae year. Because the date of production, the painter, the circumstances of its making, the place where it was first enshrined, and the sponsors are all clearly recorded, and because it displays iconography with a strong regional character specific to Seoul as well as considerable artistic merit, while its original form remains well preserved, this painting is of particular significance.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산