송림사 대웅전 목석가삼존불좌상의 연구

Abstract

The present study explained the wooden seated Sakyamuni Buddha triad in Daewoong‐jeon of the Songrim‐sa Temple from a number of viewpoints. First, the background of the creation of the Sakyamuni Buddha triad at the Songrim‐sa Temple can be explained based on the records on the creation of the Buddha statue. According to the records, a total of 271 persons participated in the creation of the Buddha statue including the donators of the golden belts. This shows the tremendous scale of the project that created the Buddha statue at the Songrim‐sa Temple. Second, the wooden seated Sakyamuni Buddha triad at the Songrim‐sa Temple is characterized by its plane style, showing the iconic characteristic of Buddha statues in the late Chosun Dynasty. Third, the Songrim‐sa Buddha triad expresses well the characteristics of the popular style during the reign of King Injo and Sukjong (1625~1724), the first period of the late Chosun Dynasty, in terms of composition, proportion, form and volume. With the exact year of creation known (1657), the work is regarded as a masterpiece in those days. Fourth, the work is greatly meaningful in that it was the second work created by Dowoo who belonged to the Muyeom School since he became the chief artist and the first work as a Buddha statue of the Muyeom‐ and Dowoo‐line representing those days. Fifth, the wooden Buddha statue, which is 476cm high from its Sumi platform to the top, is a monumental wooden image representing those days. Thus, the wooden Sakyamuni Buddha triad at the Songrim‐sa Temple is counted as the best masterpiece as a wooden Buddha statue in the late Chosun Dynasty, and is considered to make great contributions to research on the history of Korean Buddhist sculpture as well as the history of Chosun Buddhist sculpture.