Unmunsa Birojanasamsinbulhoedo, Cheongdo

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.1613

Category

Painting

Era

1755년

Designated year

2009

Location

청도군, 경상북도— 경북 청도군 운문면 운문사길 264, 운문사 (신원리)

Coordinates

35.661139, 128.960044

The painting of the Buddha triad accompanied by a Buddhist pantheon, housed in Bogwangmyeongjeon Hall of Unmunsa Temple, was created in 1755 by a group of nineteen monk painters, led by Cheoil. In the 18th century, Triad paintings were most often painted in three separate panels, each representing Vairocana, Sakyamuni and Rocana Buddha. This painting, meanwhile, portrays all three of them on one gigantic sheet, along with their many attendants. Such a composition is already seen in the Hanging Painting of Gapsa Temple, dating from 1650, but it became popular in earnest, once in the 19th century. Rocana Buddha, in this painting, is portrayed in the style of a Bodhisattva, holding a lotus stem rather than assuming the vitarka mudra, as it is customary. Rocana Buddha is shown holding a lotus stem mostly in large-size Buddhist paintings representing Rocana for outdoor display, including those housed in Sudosa Temple (1704) and Tongdosa Temple (1792), but in no other paintings displayed in worship halls, behind Buddha statues. This work, the only 18th-century Buddhist painting in which Buddhas representing the triad is depicted on one sheet, is also remarkable for its well-balanced composition and well-proportioned bodies of the figures. This, coupled with the calm color tone based on the contrast between red and green, makes the triad painting of Unmunsa Temple a great, elegant example of 18th-century Joseon Buddhist paintings.

Location