Goryeo Suwolgwaneumbosaldo(2025)

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.2307

Category

Painting

Era

고려 후기(14세기)

Designated year

2025

Location

용산구, 서울특별시— 서울특별시 용산구 서빙고로 137(용산동6가, 국립중앙박물관)

Coordinates

37.523500, 126.980100Museum-based location

This English description was machine-translated and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the original Korean text for details.

The Goryeo painting 'Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Observing the Moon' is based on the 'Entry into the Dharmadhatu' chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra and depicts the scene where the bodhisattva seeker Sudhana, in pursuit of enlightenment through visiting fifty-three spiritual teachers during his journey southward, encounters Avalokitesvara residing on Mount Potalaka. In this work held at the National Museum of Korea, Avalokitesvara is portrayed in a semi-reclined posture with one leg extended over a riverside boulder, a willow-branch vase placed on the rock before the bodhisattva, and Sudhana positioned diagonally across the composition in an attitude of reverence with palms joined in respect. While following the conventional late-Goryeo iconography of the moonlit Avalokitesvara, the work demonstrates refined artistic accomplishment through intricate, dynamic vine and lotus petal patterns woven within delicate celestial garments, subtle and dignified color sensibility elevating the painting's elegance, and refined application of gold-lined pigments to outlines and patterns achieving restrained and graceful beauty. Surviving Goryeo Buddhist paintings are rare both domestically and internationally, with most preserved abroad, making Korean examples extremely limited. Among the numerous moonlit Avalokitesvara compositions constituting a significant portion of Goryeo paintings, only six examples exist in Korea in museums such as Horim Museum and Lee um Museum, making them exceptionally scarce. Although portions of this designated work experienced pigment loss during its long transmission history requiring restoration, the essential iconographic elements including Avalokitesvara, Sudhana, Mount Potalaka, and the willow-branch vase remain substantially intact, providing important access to understanding the sophisticated Buddhist painting tradition of late-Goryeo.

Location