著者

久野 健

雑誌

美術研究 = The bijutsu kenkiu : the journal of art studies

巻号頁・発行日

no.304, pp.29-30, 1977-03-31

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The image of Buddha-at-Birth, introduced here, was excavated at the Kuze Temple Site at Kuze, Jōyō City, near Kyoto. Jōyō City, abundant in ancient temple and in dwelling sites. is now under development as a satellite town of Kyoto and Osaka. Since February 1975, the Board of Education has excavated many of these archaeological sites, among which was the Kuze Temple Site which contained earth podiums of the Golden Hall and the Pagoda. This temple seems to have had a Hokkeji type layout of buildings. On the north side of the South Great Gate site of the temple, this image was unearthed on March 31, 1975. It is almost perfect except that its right arm which points to heaven is about to break near the elbow. A long tenon behind the head suggests that it originally had a halo, though it is now missing. Most of the images of Buddha-at-Birth from the seventh and eighth centuries are in bad condition having suffered from fire. This one, however, has no trace of having been burned and has the bright colour of gilding. This image measures 11.5 cm from the tip of the right hand pointing to heaven to the bottom of the stem of the lotus pedestal, and 7 cm from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet. As is usual with such small images, the entire image is cast in one mould, perhaps in the lost-wax technique. Thick gilding is done not only over the Buddha himself, but also over the lotus pedestal and its stem. In this paper, the author discusses the art his torical significance of the image in relation to the other Buddha-at-Birth images from the seventh and eighth centuries. Generally speaking, those of the Asuka, Hakuhō and Nara Periods gradually changed from slender proportions to more rounded proportions. The skirts of earlier ones are generally short and expose both legs; the skirts of later figures gradually became longer until they reached the ankles. At the same time, drapery-folds changed from symmetrical to more irregular and complicated forms. The image of Buddha-at-Birth excavated at the Kuze Temple Site has a comparatively long, fully modelled head with a healthy countenance and a well-built body. The skirt it wears is long and reaches the ankles. These characteristics indicate that perhaps this image is not of the Hakuhō Period but of the next Nara Period. This presumption meets with the date of the roof tiles from this temple site.