Artworks

Miroku Butsu, Hokuendō, Kōfukuji

Artwork · Unkei, Genkei · 1212 · sculpture · Kōfuku-ji Temple

The altar’s central image, originally with two bodhisattvas, the Shitennō and two rakan. Compared with Jōchō’s Amida, the torso rises higher above the spread of the legs, yet the figure is not top-heavy; face and drapery are carved more deeply, the crystal eyes look down with a melancholy expression. yosegi-zukuri in katsura wood: an approachable, almost human Buddha. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 189–190, fig. 219. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.