Standing Yongdeoksa Temple Stone Buddha

This is a stone Buddha statue enshrined in the Mireukjeon Hall of Yongdeoksa Temple, in Idong-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin. The bare head bears a low usnisha, and the oval face shows relatively realistic features, with small ears. The neck carries thick, clearly carved samdo, three band-like folds symbolising the Buddha's wisdom. The right hand is raised to the chest holding a lotus-bud-shaped jewel, while the left hand hangs down with the palm turned outward in the gesture of yeowonin, the mudra promising to grant the wishes of sentient beings. From the hand gesture alone it is difficult to determine precisely which Buddha is depicted. The monastic robe draped over both shoulders covers the whole body; at the chest it forms a thick U-shaped fold, which then divides at the thighs into two long U-shaped folds running down each leg to below the knees. This treatment of drapery folds became fashionable from around the eighth century in the Unified Silla period, and appears in its typical form in works such as the 719 standing stone Amitabha Buddha of Gamsansa Temple and the Buddha on the south face of the four-sided stone Buddha at the Gulbulsa Temple Site in Gyeongju. The body proportions, facial features and drapery folds all reflect the style of Unified Silla Buddhist statues. However, the flattened, less voluminous body, the stiff and schematic drapery folds that have lost their earlier elasticity, and the ambiguous hand gesture suggest that this statue dates from the early Goryeo period, when the stylistic conventions of Unified Silla sculpture were still being carried on.

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Where it is

Region

Yongin, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료