Guardian Deities Painting of Suguksa Temple

This work is a Buddhist painting commissioned by the royal family, made in 1907 by Gang Jae-hui for His Majesty the Emperor and, below him, the Crown Prince, Crown Prince Yeong, and Prince Uichin and their consorts. It was painted by the chief supervisor (pyeonsu) Boam Geungbeop together with Duheum, and the master painters (geumeo) Jaewon, Gijeong and Sangeun, while Gang Mun-hwan, Kim Jong-seong, Won Il-sang and others served as project supervisors (gamdong). The composition centres on Witaecheon (Skanda), Beomcheon (Brahma) and Jeseokcheon (Indra), surrounded by a host of heavenly beings and guardian deities. Witaecheon, depicted at the very centre of the painting, wears a helmet adorned with bird feathers and armour, and holds a trident (samchageuk) upright with both hands; his neck juts forward, giving an impression of hunching. His face is round and broad, with small, delicately depicted features. To the left and right of Witaecheon stand Beomcheon (to the viewer's right) and Jeseokcheon (to the viewer's left), their upper bodies bare, hands joined in prayer and facing forward, wearing splendid crowns and celestial robes. Together with Witaecheon, the interior of their halos is finished in gold leaf, expressing both splendour and their status as the central figures among the guardian deities. Around Beomcheon and Jeseokcheon, celestial musicians play the flute, hand drum and saenghwang (a mouth organ); around them is gathered an entourage of attendants, including the Sun Palace Prince and Moon Palace Prince wearing crowns depicting the sun and moon, the Mountain Spirit holding a feathered fan (ikseon), the Kitchen God holding a ceremonial tablet, and various heavenly boys and maidens. Beside Witaecheon are placed six guardian generals, three to each side; also arranged are a dragon king holding horns, and dharma-protecting deities holding swords and spears, their distinctive facial expressions lending variety to the painting as a whole. The colouring uses red and green together with gold, brown and deep blue; the overall tone is very restrained, yet the gold leaf and patterns within it add splendour to the painting. The brushwork is based on the iron-wire line technique (cheolseonmyo), with delicate strokes standing out — even each individual whisker of the guardian deities is depicted in fine detail, giving the whole a dignified quality — and shading was applied around the outlines to express a sense of three-dimensionality. This is a large-scale guardian deity painting measuring 270 cm across, and its delicate brushwork, stable colour tones, use of gold paint (geumni) and balanced depiction of figures together express well the dignity befitting a Buddhist painting commissioned by the royal family.

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Where it is

Region

Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산