Saturday, October 27, 2018

Asura at Kōfuku-ji temple


We just learned about the Kongōrikishi.

Another famous ancient Japanese sculpture is the sculpture of Asura at Kōfuku-ji temple, made around 700 AD in Nara Japan.

Buddhists believe that the Asura is a powerful creature that helps protect the temples.

This sculpture was made using a type of art called kanshitsu, which means dry lacquer.
For this type of art, sculptors first make a model out of clay.
Then they take some cloth that they soak in a special type of oil and sawdust.
After that they wrap the statue in these cloths until it dries.
Last they break the clay out from underneath so it is a hollow statue.


(from: wikipedia - Kōfuku-ji)


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