Sculpture portraits of Japanese religious figures

Japanese portrait sculpture developed in Buddhist context and never completely divorced itself from that religious setting. From the beginning, the majority of the subjects portrayed were religious personages, whether legendary or historical. Even when lay subjects began to appear in the latter part of Kamakura period, there portraits were enshrined in temples with which they were closely affiliated. The monk portrait, derived from the strong tradition of arhat representation in China and transmitted to Japan, was surrounded by a strongly devotional atmosphere and invested with great religious significance. It was natural for a portrait to be commissioned by the disciples of monk shortly after his death in order to commemorate his memory. They are Ganjin, Gyoshin, Gien, Dokyo and other ones. The content of Japanese portrait sculpture is highly complex: there are portraits that reflect an outlook similar to the European concept of individualism, but there are also states, regarded as objects of worship. The six small figures of the Buddha Amida issuing from mouth of monk Kuya are an embodiment of six-character nembutsu, a prayer formula calling upon Amida recited by adherents of the Pure Land faith. There are a lot of chinso portraits - a formal sculpted portrait of Zen master in the Japanese Temples. The form originated in China when painted portraits were traditionally given by Zen master to his close disciples in recognition of their attainment and evidence of their acceptance in his line. This practice was transmitted to Japan with the introduction of Zen. These last are portrait of monks and founders of religious schools that are often strongly influenced by canons regulating Buddhist images in general. Portrait of layman completely free of influences of religion art are subject to a different tradition. In portraits of venerated monks, which form the body of Japanese portrait sculpture have come to be appreciated as objects of aesthetic value. The original purpose behind the creation of these statues is frequently commemorative. Within a temple complex a hall alternately called eido (portrait hall), kaizando (founder’s hall), shishido (patriarch s hall). The use of statues as objects of worship, the depositing within them of votive objects, and their placement in portrait halls - all these aspects of the Buddhist background are clarified in this article, giving understanding of Japanese portrait sculpture.

sculpture portrait, chinzo, butsuzo, sacred, monk, realism, zenbuddhism

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