Eunhaesabaekeungam Hermitage Nectar Ritual Painting

This is a painting preserved at Baekheungam Hermitage of Eunhaesa Temple, illustrating the contents of the Ullambana Sutra, one of the Buddhist scriptures. It is a gamnowangdo, a nectar ritual painting depicting Buddhas and bodhisattvas descending to save the suffering beings of hell. It is painted in colour on silk, measuring 218.5 cm wide and 225 cm high. In the upper part of the painting is depicted the scene of Amitabha Buddha's retinue coming from paradise to receive the beings of hell, that is, six Buddhas including Amitabha, Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta, together with Ksitigarbha, who have come to lead the beings of hell to paradise, along with the guiding bodhisattva who leads them to the Pure Land, and a carriage. Around these figures, five-coloured clouds encircle the scene, marking the boundary between the heavenly world and the world of hell. In the middle section, two hungry ghosts are emphasised and drawn especially large at the centre, and around them the tormented scenes of hell and various scenes of the present world are vividly depicted. Between each scene, clouds and rocky mountains are painted to mark the boundaries, and each scene is explained with ink writing on red paper. At the bottom of the painting, beneath a tree, a tiger is depicted, its style of particular interest as it resembles the type commonly found in folk paintings of the late Joseon period. An inscription at the bottom reveals that the painting was made in 1792, the 16th year of King Jeongjo. The distinctive composition emphasising the hungry ghosts at the centre, the muted colours and the uniform brushwork well reflect the style of Buddhist painting of the period. In particular, it shows the emergence of genre-painting elements in Buddhist painting during the late Joseon period, making it an important source for the history of Korean painting.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeongcheon, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산