The Burke Collection
Shakyamuni (Seokka, 釋迦) Triad
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859-1

Catalogue information

Joseon dynasty, 1565

Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk

69.3 x 33 cm (27 1/4 x 13 in.)

Donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York by the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation in 2015

Literature

Hongnam Kim 1990, pp. 46–58, no. 12
Kim, Hongnam
1990
“A Korean Buddhist Triad in the Burke Collection.” Orientations 21, no. 12 (December): 46–58.

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;
Hongnam Kim 1991
Kim, Hongnam
1991
The Story of a Painting: A Korean Buddhist Treasure from the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation. Exh. cat. New York: Asia Society Galleries.

See full bibliography

;
Chung et al. 1998, pp. 176–77, pl. 80
Chung et al.
1998
Arts of Korea. Edited by Judith G. Smith. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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;
Poster et al. 1999, pp. 56–57, no. 4
Poster, Amy G., Richard M. Barnhart, and Christine M. E. Guth [Poster et al.]
1999
Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of East Asian Art from New York Private Collections. Exh. cat. New York: Japan Society in association with the Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1999.

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;
Lee 2009, p. 33, no. 12.
Lee, Soyoung [S. Lee]
2009
[Editor]. Art of the Korean Renaissance, 1400–1600. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press.

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See also

This artwork was published as catalogue entry 859 in Volume II of Art through a Lifetime.

Additional details

Text

One day in the First Moon in the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign [1565], Our Majesty, Great Queen Dowager Seongryeol Inmyeong Daewang Daebi, wishes that His Noble Majesty the King will enjoy a life of ten thousand years. How boundless is the King’s benevolence! It surpasses [that of Emperor Wu, who] “let loose all trapped animals.” How great is the King’s [wise] rule! It aspires to the [ancient sages’ art of governing by the] recording method of “knotted cords.” Blessed will he be with countless children. How noble is Her Majesty’s birth! She understood [everything] from the time of her birth. How divine is Her Majesty the Queen’s birth! Heaven endowed her with brightness. [Thus the Great Queen Dowager] released a fund from the royal treasury to order yanggong [skilled artists] to paint Seokka [Shakyamuni], Mireuk [Maitreya], Mita [Amitabha], [all with attendant] bodhisattvas, fifty of each in gold and fifty in color, totaling four hundred in number. They were all splendidly assembled for the ceremony celebrating the restoration of the Hoeam-sa, accompanied by the “eye-dotting” rite. All were ordered to worship them day and night and to offer incense to aid all the people of the kingdom to avoid falling into the trap of being disloyal subjects. Her Majesty’s virtue is like the unfathomable ocean. It is truly immeasurable. How admirable! Respectfully inscribed by Cheongpyeong sanin Naam.

嘉靖四十四年正月日惟我聖烈仁明大王大妃殿下爲主上殿下聖躬萬歲仁踰鮮網治踵結繩螽羽蟄蟄燐趾振振王妃殿下頂娠生和脇誕天縱恭捐帑寶爰命良工釋迦彌勒藥師彌陀百補処俱各金画五十彩画五十倂四百幀莊嚴畢備謹當檜岩重修慶席依法點眼領諸道人使之禮敬於朝夕常以華封之祝堯爲山家務免墮不忠之坑其聖德化海可勝螽測於戲至歟淸平山人懶庵敬跋