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Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) Buddhist Sculpture

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Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) Buddhist Sculpture Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) Buddhist Sculpture “Amida Nyorai (detail).” Jōchō, 1053, cypress wood with lacquered cloth and gold leaf. Height: 110 inches. Hōōdo (Phoenix Hall), Byōdō-in, Kyoto. Terms of Use: The image above is in the public domain. I. Heian Period Buddhist Sculpture The Heian period witnessed a flowering of Buddhist art and architecture and the introduction of Esoteric Buddhism to Japan. Early Heian period sculptures inherited and modified late Nara period sculptural forms while developing new images to depict wrathful Esoteric deities. During this time, wood also replaced bronze as the most common material from which Buddhist sculptures were made. By the middle of the Heian period, the powerful Fujiwara clan dominated political and cultural affairs and formal trade with China ended, allowing for the development of indigenous cultural forms. A growing sense of grace, refinement, and softness emerged in Buddhist sculptures, which culminated in the work of Jōchō (d. 1057), whose workshop in Kyoto perfected the Wayō or “Japanese style” of sculpture. The above sculpture of Amida Nyorai is the only statue by Jōchō that has survived. It was created as part of (and still remains in) the Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō- in. As you can see, Jōchō experimented with proportions in the crafting of this sculpture, using the height of the head from the brow to the statue’s chin as the basic unit of measurement for the entire sculpture. Note also that if you draw a line from the center of the statue’s hairline to the middle of where its legs are crossed beneath the folds of The Saylor Foundation 1 its robe, this line is equal to the distance between its two knees. The result is a heightened sense of stability and calm. Jōchō’s “Amida Nyorai” was made using the newly developed yosegi zukuri technique, in which several rectangular blocks are individually carved and then combined. Figures created in this technique were much lighter than those carved from a single piece of wood, were much less likely to crack, and could also be made in an assembly-line fashion. The development of this technique, which simplified and expedited production, led to the proliferation of Buddhist statues in the late Heian and Kamakura periods. Left: “Agyō,” one of the two Niō guardians at the Great South Gate of Tōdai-ji, Nara. Unkei, 1203. Wood with paint. Height: 331 inches. Terms of Use: This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. It is attributed to Wikimedia user Chris_73. The original version can be found here. Right: “Ungyō,” one of the two Niō guardians at the Great South Gate of Tōdai-ji, Nara. Kaikei, 1203. Wood with paint.Height: 331 inches. Terms of Use: This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. It is attributed to Wikimedia user KENPEI. The original version can be found here. II. Kamakura Period The popularization of Buddhism and the patronage of the military elite had a profound impact on Buddhist art during the Kamakura Period. Statues such as the ones you see above, which were created by Unkei (1151-1223) and Kaikei (most of his works were made between the years 1183 – 1236), members of the Kei School of sculptors, demonstrate the realism and humanistic vitality that characterize Buddhist sculpture from this period. The Kei School of sculptors, whose name derives from the fact that The Saylor Foundation 2 most artists of this school used the character kei 慶 in their name, did not have close ties with the imperial court in Kyoto, which favored more refined and delicate sculptures. The military government, however, disliked aristocratic tastes and preferred sculptures created by the Kei School, which reinterpreted earlier Nara and Heian period styles by infusing sculptures with a new sense of power, vitality, and realism. The school grew in celebrity after the Kamakura military rulers (1185-1333) selected Kei sculptors to rebuild the temples of Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji, which had been destroyed during the Genpei War (1180-1185). The Tōdai-ji renovation project, of which the above sculptures were a part, lasted from 1180-1220. Many of these statues, such as the above guardian figures, display stylistic elements derived from China, including large hair topknots, long fingernails, applied jewelry, and wavy drapery. At the same time, the Kei School introduced new iconographic elements and used subdued colors that further enhanced the simplicity and realism of their sculptures. They also pioneered the use of crystals with dark centers for the eyes of statues and focused on the physical details of each subject. The above Guardian Figures were the result of the collaboration between two Kei School artists, Unkei and Kaikei, and were completed in a record 72 days. (Two other master sculptors and sixteen students are recorded as working on these statues.) The artists used the yosegi zukuri technique to create the statues. Notice the height of these statues in relation to the people in the photograph on the right; they are over 27.5 feet tall! Other important developments in Buddhist sculpture during the Kamakura period include the creation of portraits of important priests and persons and nude sculptures of deities, like Jizō, which were then dressed in real clothes. The Saylor Foundation 3 .
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