Ssanggyesa Temple Amitabha Assembly Painting

The Amitabha Assembly Painting depicts Amitabha Buddha — who presides over the Western Paradise and grants sentient beings boundless peace and longevity — delivering his sermon; it is a Buddhist painting based on the Three Pure Land Sutras. Now enshrined in a hall set up within the dormitory quarters of Ssanggyesa Temple, the painting originally hung in the Geungnakbojeon Hall, but today it is obscured by the altar so that only about a third of the composition can be seen. It is painted in deep colours on silk measuring 220 cm wide and 185 cm high. At the centre, Amitabha Buddha sits in full lotus position on a high pedestal, encircled by a boat-shaped halo combining a head halo and a body halo. Beneath his outer robe he wears an undergarment covering the shoulders and a sash around the chest, the outer robe itself draped in a variant bare-right-shoulder style. Below the Buddha, whose face is serene and body sturdy, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva stands at his left in white robes, turning slightly as he holds a water vessel level, while Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva stands at his right, grasping the middle of a lotus stem with the right hand and its tip with the left, body turned slightly toward the main Buddha. The remaining bodhisattvas — Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Vajragarbha, the bodhisattva Removing Hindrances, Maitreya and Kshitigarbha — are arranged diagonally behind Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta, extending up to the top of the composition on both sides. The Four Heavenly Kings are placed two on each side, above and below the attendant bodhisattvas: the Eastern King Dhrtarastra with hands joined in prayer, the Southern King Virudhaka holding a sword, the Western King Virupaksha holding a wish-fulfilling jewel and a dragon, and the Northern King Vaishravana holding a pagoda. Among them, the Eastern King Dhrtarastra is unusual in holding his hands together in prayer, a form different from that normally seen in late-Joseon Buddhist paintings. The ten great disciples, including Ananda and Kashyapa, face front or in profile in a variety of free poses, hands joined in prayer. The painting is executed chiefly in vivid red and green, with white pigment used on the faces and parts of the bodies, and gold paint applied to the crowns and parts of the armour of the Four Heavenly Kings; traces of blue pigment overpainted in places suggest the colours were retouched around the 19th century. The inscription recording the date of production and the monks involved has been cut away and lost, but on the whole the shape of the halo, the small, finely rendered facial features, and the red robe and patterns worn by the main Buddha suggest the painting was made in the mid-18th century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Ansan, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료