著者

猪川 和子

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.303, pp.1-9, 1976-10-25

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The main hall of the Nakayamadera, Takarazuka City, Hyōgo, houses three Eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara images. Of the three, the main image is of the Heian Period and the other two are from the Kamakura Period. The main image has some extraordinary features. According to the Nakayamadera Raiyuki, which describes the history of the temple, a ritual of thirty-three temples with Avalokiteśvara images was held at the Nakayamadera in 988. Therefore one presumes that the main image had been made by that time. On the other hand, a geographical book published in 1701, Setsuyō Gundan records an old legend of a miracle that Jishin, a priest of this temple in the early tenth century, made an Elevenheaded Avalokiteśvara image fly. The main statue of the temple (Pls. VII, VIII) is carved out of one block of kaya wood. This image is characterized by a strange facial expression and extraordinarily shaped hair, arms and legs. The exaggerated arc-shaped eye-brows are connected to each other by a large flat ridge in-between. Eyes are upturned and an iron nail is driven into the pupil of each eye. The hair swirls above the ears. The flexed left arm orients its palm downward with its fingers bent backwards. The big toe of the left leg is also bent upward. Similar characteristics are found in such ninth century works as the Elevenheaded Avalokiteśvara of the Hokkeji and in such tenth century examples as the Eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara of the Hasedera, Fukuoka; the Samantabhadra of the Fugenji, Mie; the Avalokiteśvara of the Seisuiji, Nagano; and the Sūryaprabha and Candraprabha of the Daizenji, Yamanashi. The main image of the Nakayamadera may have evolved from a prototype like the Avaloksteśvara of the Hokkeji, a small unpainted wooden statue traditionally said to reflect a style closely related to that in India. Of the other two, the Eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara in Pl. IXa stylistically resembles some statues supposed to have been made by sculptors related to the Saidaiji. Since the Tada Clan which lived in the area had connections with both this temple and the Saidaiji, it seems probable that this Nakayamadera image as well was made by a sculptor related to the Saidaiji. The last statue (Pl. IXb) is also from about the same time.