Mujaku and Seshin
無著・世親像
Artwork · Unkei, as head of the workshop · 1212 · pair · Kōfuku-ji Temple
The standing statues of the Indian monks Mujaku (Asanga) and Seshin (Vasubandhu), completed in 1212 for the rebuilt Northern Round Hall (Hokuendō) of Kōfuku-ji1, each about six feet high, among the figures of the hall made from 1208 by Unkei with his six sons and his senior pupils2. Kobayashi saw Unkei here as the master in charge, without carving of his own3. TNM, Unkei 2017, “in 1212 (Kenryaku 2), he completed standing images of Mujaku Bosatsu and Seshin Bosatsu (No. 20) for the restored Northern Round Hall of Kohfukuji”. ↩ Kobayashi 1954, “In Dec. 1208, the erection of the statues of Hokuen-do, North Round Hall, of Kofuku-ji Temple, was commenced, in which he was enganged with his six sons” · “two standing statues of Mujaku and Seshin (each 6 feet high)”. ↩ Ebd., “Here we must notice that at this big construction work, he was the superintendant, and had no sculptural work of his own”. ↩ Literatur Kobayashi 1954: Takeshi Kobayashi, Study on the Life and Works of Unkei. English Summary, (Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Monograph No. 1), Tenri 1954. TNM, Unkei 2017: UNKEI – The Great Master of Buddhist Sculpture (special exhibition, 2017), in: Tokyo National Museum, Exhibitions (2017), https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=1861&lang=en (zuletzt abgerufen am 28.10.2026).