Hyeondeungsa Temple Water-Moon Avalokitesvara Painting

The Water-Moon Avalokitesvara Painting, enshrined as the altarpiece behind the Buddha in Bogwangjeon Hall, was made in 1850 and is unusual for being painted in gold and silver pigment on a black ground. Set against a background of the moon, Avalokitesvara sits at the centre within a round halo, in a posture of ease upon a fantastically shaped rock, flanked by a kundika (ritual water bottle), a willow branch and bamboo — a formula borrowed from Water-Moon Avalokitesvara paintings of the late Goryeo period. In the lower register are the Dragon King holding a wish-fulfilling jewel, the boy pilgrim Seonjae-dongja (Sudhana), and an emperor holding a ceremonial tablet (hol) and wearing a won-yugwan crown, a form of royal headdress. At the point where sky and water meet, clouds are laid out in a horizontal band across the middle register, in which the Four Heavenly Kings are placed. In the upper register, emanated forms of Avalokitesvara appear in flowing, relaxed postures. The painting looks throughout as though gold pigment had been scattered over it, and traces of gold remain in many places; red and green are used mainly against the blue ground, with white applied in places to create contrast of colour. No dedicatory inscription survives on the painting itself, but a votive text found among the consecration deposits inside it records that in the fourth month of 1850 Dowager Queen Jo commissioned the monk-painters Toeundang Gyeongyu and Songamdang Taewon to make and enshrine the painting in order to pray for the repose of King Heonjong.

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Where it is

Region

Gapyeong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산