Important Cultural PropertyStanding Guardian (Rikishi)

Save Image

image 全画面表示
  • 乾漆力士形立像
  • 1 statue
  • Hollow-core dry lacquer with pigments Cut gold leaf (kirikane)
  • H 59.0
  • Nara period or Tang dynasty, China/8th century
  • Nara National Museum
  • 1113(彫102)

  This statue, a guardian of Buddha dharma, wears the thin shawl-like cloth and the wrap around skirt, and stands on a lotus pedestal while stretching its right arm downward with its hand making a fist and positioning its left hand in front of its chest. It was made of dry lacquer with hollow-core and a finishing touch of color. Its style, featuring a peculiar expression with a heavy beard and whiskers, a body shape of a heavily built upper body with an unmatched extremely thin lower body and a posture with its chest sticking out, is unprecedented. Its expression appears somehow indifferent, while the position of its hands and its pose brings a sense of tension that gives it a distinctive presence. As no similar examples exist in Japan, the era when the statue was created is difficult to specify. However, judging from the features such as the simple breast ornaments, the expression of the beard and whiskers, the heavily built upper body, the pose and the muscular body, it can be concluded that the statue was created in the early Nara period (710–794) when the style of the early Tang dynasty of China still had a heavy influence. In addition, the possibility that it was created in China should also be considered.

Pieces

Loading