Palhwa Statue Portrait of Yongmunsa Temple, Namhae

The composition is divided into upper and lower registers. In the upper register, from the viewer's right, are depicted Cheongjindang, Cheonghadang, Cheongundang and Nakseodang; in the lower register, from the viewer's right, are depicted Bongseongdang, Ujindang, Yongamdang and Eunamdang, each with his name inscribed at the upper right. Against an omitted background, each monk sits on a plain mat in the full lotus position, shown turned to reveal about seven-tenths of his face from the left, holding either prayer beads or a monk's staff. Little is known of the biographies of the eight monks, but Nakseodang is recorded as having resided at Nakseoam, a hermitage of Unheungsa Temple in Samcheonpo. Among the nine budo (monks' funerary stupas) at Yongmunsa Temple designated as provincial Tangible Cultural Heritage, those of Cheonghadang and Eunamdang — two of the eight monks shown here — are included. The treatment of the background, the alternating placement of dark grey and pale grey monastic robes, the use of green, blue and ochre cords to tie the knots of the kasaya, the degree of slope of the shoulders, the outlining and rendering of the faces, the choice of pigment for the shaded depiction of clothing, and the layout of the inscription cartouches all match those of the Portrait of the Seven Eminent Monks, suggesting that the two works were produced in the same period by the same monk-painter. The Portrait of the Three Eminent Monks differs somewhat in its treatment of the cloud-pattern background and in the rendering of Naong's robes, but shares many features with the portraits of the Seven and Eight Eminent Monks — the plain mat, the outlining of the figures and the slope of their shoulders, the manner of draping a red kasaya loosely over one shoulder and fastening it with several knots, the shading of the drapery folds, and the layout of the inscription cartouches — indicating that it too was likely produced in the same period by the same monk-painter.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namhae, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료