Preface
1. A Brief History of Ancient Korean Buddhist Sculpture
2. Gilt-Bronze Pensive Image with Sun and Moon Crown
3. Gilt-Bronze Pensive Image with Lotus Crown
4. The Application of “Porte d’Harmonie” to Seokguram
5. The Iconography of the Buddhist Sculptures in Seokguram
6. Iconology of the Buddhist Sculptures of Seokguram
7. The Art and Philosophy of the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok
Footnotes
Bibliography
Index
Korean art is often considered to be subordinate to Chinese art or a bridge between China and Japan. Moreover, as most Korean art history is known through the work of Japanese and Euro-American scholars, there is room for misunderstanding on the subject. But while Korean Buddhist sculpture, one of the fields representing the essence of Korean art, was certainly influenced by and is similar to Chinese sculpture at first glance, it went beyond such influence to develop many unique characteristics. The seven essays in this book investigate in-depth three examples that show this aspect of Korean sculpturepensive images, Seokguram cave temple, and the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok, which were produced during the period between the 6th and 8th centuries.
When we stand before a wonderful work of art we feel a sense of delight and experience catharsis because the artwork represents the oneness of truth and beauty. The works discussed in this book are those that show that truth is bea
