| architecture |
| calligraphy |
| ceramics |
| clothing |
| comics |
| gardens |
| lacquerwork |
| literature |
| movies |
| music |
| painting |
| poetry |
| sculpture |
| tea ceremony |
| television |
| theatre |
| weaponry |
| thematic routes |
| timeline |
| the site |
context: sculpture > Unkei school
|
another guardian figure, paired with that on the parent page |
Unkei, d.1223
The image on the Sculpture page, two levels up from here, is an Unkei carving supposedly representing the Indian patriarch Asanga, though it's plainly a Japanese figure. The two guardian figures on this page and the Unkei School page one up from here are a pair, and technically they are unrivalled in Japan for many centuries. Michael Dunn compares them to the work of Bernini, who I regard as the most technically gifted sculptor ever, anywhere, and while that may be overstating Unkei's claims (and we shouldn't forget the huge difference between sculpting stone and carving wood), you can see why the hair and drapery on these figures, plus the strong sense of an inner life, drew the comparison. We don't need to invoke the Renaissance or Baroque to see Unkei as a hugely exciting breath of fresh air after centuries of largely formulaic imitations of Chinese and Korean styles.