The Production And Iconography Of A Choson Buddhist Painting

Our lives are closely connected with an art. People easily regard an artwork as something that is far from our lives, but it is always around us. Now, I would like to introduce one of Buddhist artworks of Korea. The title is Pensive Bodhisattva. The artist is unknown. However, it was made in mid-7th century during the Three Kingdom Period. The dimension of this artwork is 8 7/8-inch and the medium is gilt bronze. It is located in Gallery 233 among other Korean artworks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art now.

Buddhism is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. The founder of Buddhism is said to be Siddhartha Gautama, the son of an Indian warrior-king. Gautama led an extravagant life through early adulthood, reveling in the privileges of his social class. Gautama became bored with the indulgences of royal life so he wandered into the world searching for understanding. After encountering an old man, ill man, a corpse, and an ascetic, he was convinced that suffering lay at the end of all existence. He then became a monk, depriving himself of worldly possessions in the hope of comprehending the truth of the world around him. The culmination of his search came while meditating beneath a tree, where he finally understood how to be free from suffering, and ultimately, to achieve salvation. Gautama became known as the Buddha, meaning the “Enlightened One.” He spent the remainder of his life

Representations of the bodhisattva in China prior to the Song dynasty were masculine in appearance. Guanyin's image is depicted as a young man dressed in Northern Song Buddhist robes sitting gracefully. He is depicted looking or glancing down, symbolizing that Guanyin continues to watch over the world.8 This Guanyin sculpture was made around Late Song dynasty, the appearance of the bodhisattva showing the slender build, feminine curved face, even though the Guanyin is still portrayed as a male figure, it shows some transition between male and female characteristics.

The central Buddha figure, Shakyamuni is the original Buddha who can not be spoken or thought of in terms of birth or death, self or other and is the source of all other manifestation of Buddha hood. He appears cross-legged on a pedestal representing the “cosmic mountain.” The Shaka displays several of the important iconographic, symbolic traits of the Buddha, including the usis, a cranial protrubence; the snail-shell curls of hair the urna, a mark on the brow between the eyes; the elongated ears; and the gilt which indicates the golden color of the Buddha’s skin. He holds his right hand in a gesture of protection or reassurances known as abhaya mudra, the left in the vara mudra. These features appear

On either side of the entrance door of Chinese section in Penn Museum are two particularly charming life-sized Bodhisattva statues in gray limestone, C111 and C112, which are considered as a pair and most likely to be made by the same artist. They belong to the T’ang dynasty, that period in which Buddhist sculpture reaches its height of perfection.

The Kannon Bosatsu, or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, is a carved wood statue of a Bodhisattva figure standing about two and one half to three meters tall. This statue shows a high level of detail on the Bodhisattva 's body, and is carved so smoothly that it could be mistaken for a stone carving. The show of skilled craftsmanship can be seen around the shoulders with the interaction of the cloth with the jewelry the Bodhisattva. The statue is placed on an ornate pedestal to cause the figurine to appear taller, giving it a feeling of authority, which contrasts with its calm, expressionless face. While the figure appears to be standing in a meditative state like the Buddha, the jewelry present all over the body of this figure distinguishes this figure as a Bodhisattva instead of a Buddha. In his book, The Story of Buddhism a Concise guide to Its History and Teachings, Donald S. Lopez Jr. establishes the importance of imagery in Buddhism. One major point he makes concerning the worship of Buddhist figures, is that the disciples of Buddhism not only believe that the figures are a mere representation of Buddha, but that the figures actually become and are animated by Buddha, an argument which seems to hold merit as truth.

“Amida Buddha” (Figure 1) is a bronze figure created during the Kamakura Period, dated 1185-1333. The work is a figurative representation of Amida, who was highly worshipped during the Kamakura Period. The figure “Amida Buddha” is currently on exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum (2018) in Fort Worth, Texas as part of the Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Lands of Asia Exhibition.

Descent of Amida and the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas is a hanging scroll from the Kamakura period in 13th century demonstrating Amida Buddha and 25 bodhisattvas swiftly descending over the mountains into a village. The artist used real gold paint and small slivers of gold to create patterns to add radiance to the people descending from the mountain. That usage of gold in art work is known as Kirikane and it is one of the great achievements of early Japanese Buddhist. The gold really stands out from the rest of the landscape because it is all dark colors. The symbolic meaning of this hanging scroll is that Amida would come down from the heavens to the home of a dying person in hopes of having their soul escorted into paradise. I like this painting

3. The inclusion of the yakshis add to the message of this image because they represent the Indian female earth spirits that are suggesting fertility, the message it displays is that the Buddhists believe

The group of objects chosen for this paper comes from the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum. The title of both pieces is called Seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin). Both these pieces which are statues were sculpted in china. The earliest statue was made during the Tang dynasty. While, the later statue was made during the Northern Song dynasty. These statues were chosen because the same deity is depicted and were made in a similar geographic and cultural location. This allows for the comparison of the different styles between the 2 periods. The statue made during the Northern Song dynasty depicts the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara sitting in a pose called the relaxed pose or easy pose. This statue also depicts the Bodhisattva adorned in lavish silk garments while a jeweled crown sits atop his head. The statue is carved from wood and painted with gesso, pigments, and gilding. The statue made during the Tang Dynasty depicts the Bodhisattva sitting in the easy pose as well. It also depicts the Bodhisattva in flowing robes while wearing a string of jewels.

Jesus wears a white cloth around His waist and God wears red and deep blue robes. There are very natural forms within the painting and it appears realistic. The form of God stands on an upper level and is shown realistically rather than otherworldly as He normally was shown in art. The range of size within the figures forms creates realistic perspective and it appears as though the room actually extends back. The forms within the building such

based on the style of stone statues. The figures of Buddhist art of Sui Dynasty have broader

The elaborateness of the bodhisattva remains in the figure as whole and in its separate parts, specifically the headdress and its sword halo, the cloth, and the lotus flower seat. As a whole, the bodhisattva is made up of multiple parts: the sword halo, the headdress, the bodhisattva’s body and arms, the lotus flower seat, and the earth base. The sword halo appears to be slightly detached from the bodhisattva’s body, mostly connected to the lotus flower seat. The halo gives the body more depth because it provides a background. This means that the bodhisattva is not in need of having a highly decorated backdrop behind it, especially because the halo creates an interesting shadow. The shadow is defined by the holes within the halo and the swords

Shakyamuni, is the “Great One of the Sakya clan,”.He is seated on a throne of lotus petals during his awakening. His left hand rests in his lap in a posture of meditation; and his right touches the lotus which symbolize the earth ,he is asking it to witness his enlightenment

In Indian art, the Buddha body is very muscular, whereas in China the body is adapted to their own ideals. China changes the image of the Buddha to have rounder shoulders, a rounder head, rather unseen body, eyes that do not make eye contact, and the drapery changes. This gives the resemblance of a Chinese scholar rather than an Indian prince. The Buddha after enlightenment changes form and his halo and topknot, which represent his great knowledge, become full form—he no longer has long hair, and his hands and feet are exaggerated. His body is in lotus shape and his eyes are squinted, or closed, allowing for one to easily identify the path to enlightenment in the work.