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Buddhist Painting of Unmunsa Temple, Cheongdo (Vairocana Buddha Triad)

청도 운문사 비로자나삼신불회도 ( 淸道 雲門寺 毘盧遮那三身佛會圖 )

Heritage Search Detail
Classification Treasure
Name of Cultural Properties Buddhist Painting of Unmunsa Temple, Cheongdo (Vairocana Buddha Triad)
Quantity 1
Designated Date 2009.02.23
Age 1755
Address Unmunsa Temple 264, Unmunsa-gil, Unmun-myeon, Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do

The painting of the Buddha triad accompanied by a Buddhist pantheon, housed in Bogwangmyeongjeon Hall of Unmunsa Temple, was created in 1755 by a group of nineteen monk painters, led by Cheoil. In the 18th century, Triad paintings were most often painted in three separate panels, each representing Vairocana, Sakyamuni and Rocana Buddha. This painting, meanwhile, portrays all three of them on one gigantic sheet, along with their many attendants. Such a composition is already seen in the Hanging Painting of Gapsa Temple, dating from 1650, but it became popular in earnest, once in the 19th century. Rocana Buddha, in this painting, is portrayed in the style of a Bodhisattva, holding a lotus stem rather than assuming the vitarka mudra, as it is customary. Rocana Buddha is shown holding a lotus stem mostly in large-size Buddhist paintings representing Rocana for outdoor display, including those housed in Sudosa Temple (1704) and Tongdosa Temple (1792), but in no other paintings displayed in worship halls, behind Buddha statues. This work, the only 18th-century Buddhist painting in which Buddhas representing the triad is depicted on one sheet, is also remarkable for its well-balanced composition and well-proportioned bodies of the figures. This, coupled with the calm color tone based on the contrast between red and green, makes the triad painting of Unmunsa Temple a great, elegant example of 18th-century Joseon Buddhist paintings.