Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of "Gyemi Year"

Basic information

Designation

National Treasure No.72

Category

Sculpture

Era

삼국시대

Designated year

1962

Location

성북구, 서울특별시— 서울특별시 성북구 성북로 102-11 (성북동, 간송미술관)

Coordinates

37.589116, 127.018215

This Buddhist triad shows the statues of Buddha flanked by two attending bodhisattvas with a large single mandorla behind them. The principal Buddha at the center is marked by comparatively large topknot, face slightly bent downward with a benign smile, and shapely but somewhat narrow shoulders. The robe is draped down from both shoulders, creating V-shaped folds on the front of the body and spreading out at the bottom like wings. His symbolic hand gesture has the right palm turned forward with fingers turned upward and the left palm also turned forward, with fingers -- two of which are bent -- turned downward. His acolytes are in bejeweled crowns with three ornamental erections and are depicted as if they are hung on the low corners of the mandorla. They have an appearance similar to that of the principal Buddha but X-shaped, rather than V-shaped, robe folds and make different hand gestures. The boat-shaped mandorla is covered with the flame motif expressed with fine lines, with two halos -- one around the head and the other around the body of the principal figure -- carved in low relief and further ornamented with lotus, vine, and honeysuckle designs. The pedestal is tubular, covered with down-turned lotus petals and set up on a disk-like base. The triad shares stylistic similarities with the Gilt-bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of "Sinmyo Year" (National Treasure No. 85), displaying the characteristics of the Chinese Buddhist sculpture developed during the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589 AD). With an inscription engraved on the back, art historians conjecture that it was made in Baekje in 563 when the kingdom was under the rule of King Wideok (r. 554-598).

Location