Namhae Yongmunsa Temple Amitabha Buddha Ojon Buddhist Painting

This painting is an Amitabha Ojon-do, a depiction of Amitabha Buddha together with five attendant figures: at the centre is Amitabha Buddha, with Kṣitigarbha and Avalokitesvara standing in front to left and right, and Ānanda and Kāśyapa standing behind to left and right, all arranged in symmetrical attendance. The figures have heads that are rather small in proportion to their bodies, and their bodily proportions are well balanced. The colouring is based mainly on red, with dark malachite green and ultramarine pigments also used, while the outlines of objects and cloud motifs are rendered in yellow, adding a decorative effect. The principal Buddha sits in the full lotus position on a blue lotus seat atop a two-tiered wooden pedestal; in both hands the thumb and middle finger touch, with the right hand raised in front of the chest and the left hand resting on the knee. The flesh tone is painted in a yellowish white and outlined in red, the same for all the figures, although Ānanda's face has discoloured and taken on a slightly dark tinge. The head of the principal Buddha, painted in deep ultramarine, is clearly distinguished from the uṣṇīṣa, the cranial protuberance, with a semicircular crown jewel marking the boundary between them and a round jewel set at the crown of the head. In relation to the broad, round face, the eyes, nose and mouth are small and seem gathered towards its centre. Looking more closely at the facial features, the eyebrows are drawn short in malachite green, and below them the eyes, with their outer corners slightly upturned, have only the upper eyelid line drawn in ink, the lower line being omitted; the area around the outer corners of the eyes is painted white, and the brown pupils are outlined to make their contours distinct. The nose, continuing from the eyebrows, is drawn in a thin red line, with the nostrils on either side rendered in double outline, while the small, bright-red lips and the malachite-green moustache are painted in the boneless technique, without outlines. Two strands of blue auspicious aura rise from above the principal Buddha's head halo, spreading outward on either side and ascending as though fluttering like a heavenly scarf. The robe is worn in a modified both-shoulders-covered style: an under-robe is draped over the right shoulder, and over it an outer robe covers the left shoulder and lightly covers the right shoulder as it falls, the hem of the deep malachite-green under-robe flowing down over the right leg. The outer robe is painted red and decorated at regular intervals with yellow scroll patterns, and the drapery fold lines are drawn in a deep red. The dark malachite-green undergarment worn below the chest has its edges decorated, like the outer robe, with a scrolling floral pattern. A notable feature of this painting is that the drapery folds of the outer robe and undergarment are rendered either by drawing lines in a shade darker than, but of the same colour as, the robe itself, or, as in the case of Kāśyapa's robe, by applying graded ink-wash shading to create a sense of volume. The attendant figures standing to the left and right of Amitabha Buddha share the same treatment of flesh tones and robe colours. Among them, the image of Avalokitesvara has a seven-treasure pattern drawn in fine ink lines over the heavenly scarf that falls long from the head, but rather than revealing the beauty or the thin, soft texture of Goryeo Buddhist paintings, it merely inherits the motif, reflecting the limitations of its own period. Also, in keeping with a technique common in late Joseon Buddhist paintings, metal fittings such as the ring ornaments on the principal Buddha's pedestal and the ferrule ornament at the tip of Kṣitigarbha's monk's staff are raised in low relief and painted with gold powder, which not only conveys a sense of texture but also adds decorative richness.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namhae, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료