Artworks

Yakushi Triad

Artwork · Anonymous · late 7th century–early 8th century · statue · Yakushi-ji Temple

Yakushi seated on a rectangular throne between the bodhisattvas Nikkō and Gakkō, who stand in the hip-slung pose of the Tang style: the first Japanese sculptures in a fully Tang manner. The rich black colour comes from bronze high in tin and arsenic; the halos are Edo-period replacements. Whether the triad was cast for the first Yakushiji at Fujiwara and brought to Nara or made new for the second temple is still debated. 1 Mason 2005, p. 83, fig. 102–103. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.