Everything about Unkei totally explained
Unkei (運慶,
1151 –
1223) was a
Japanese
sculptor of the
Kei school, which flourished in the
Kamakura period. He specialized in statues of the
Buddha and other important Buddhist figures. Unkei's early works are fairly traditional, similar in style to pieces by his father,
Kōkei. However, the sculptures he produced for the
Tōdai-ji in
Nara show a flair for realism different from anything Japan had seen before. Today, Unkei is the best known of the Kei artists, and many art historians consider him its "most distinguished member".
Career
Unkei traveled to
Kamakura often to do commissions for high-ranking
samurai and administrators of the
shogunate. In the works'
colophon, Unkei gives the names of all involved in performing the
ritual obeisance (
raihai) during the project's duration; the list includes Unkei himself and several members of his school. Unkei further records that he tallied the lines copied at the end of each day and then had devotees bow three times and chant the "august title" (likely
daimoku) and the
nembutsu for each one. In all, Unkei records that "During the copying, the above persons bowed fifty thousand times and [chanted] the
nenbutsu one hundred thousand times, and the august title of the
Lotus Sutra, one hundred thousand times."
In 1203, Unkei worked with
Kaikei, two other master sculptors, and 16 assistants to create two guardian figures for the gates of the
Nandaimon (Great South Gate) of
Tōdai-ji in
Nara. The statues, known as the
Kongō Rikishi or
Niō, are 26 feet tall. The team finished the figures in 72 days using the
yosegi technique of sculpting various pieces of wood separately and then combining them for the finished product.
Sometime between 1208 and 1212, Unkei sculpted a figure of a
Miroku Butsu (
Sanskrit:
Maitreya Buddha) at Tōdai-ji, along with several accompanied figures. These included two
bodhisattva, the Shitennō (
Four Heavenly Kings), and a pair of Indian
rakan (Sanskrit:
arhats) named
Muchaku and
Seshin. Only the Miroku Butsu and rakan still stand today. After the completion of these works and others at the
Kōfuku-ji, Unkei moved the Kei school's headquarters to
Kyoto.
Style
Unkei's early works are similar in style to those of his father,
Kōkei, and contemporary,
Kaikei. They are fairly traditional and show a certain delicateness. Furthermore, Unkei's work doesn't follow the
canon of proportions established by
Jōchō in the
Heian period. Unkei's figure instead has a long torso that doesn't match the distance between the figures knees (a style used by sculptors for the preceding 150 years). Despite this, Unkei's Buddha doesn't look unbalanced or unwieldy. Rather, it's a lifelike Buddha who seems kind and empathic. In essence, Unkei created a new style of sculpture. Both statues sport priestly vestments that frame their bodies realistically. They stand life-size and alone and are fully sculpted in the round as if intended to be viewed from any angle. Mujaku is depicted as a thin man manipulating some sort of holy, cloth-wrapped object. He appears reserved and reflective. Seshin, in contrast, is depicted in mid conversation, gesturing and speaking, an extroverted counterweight to the solemn Mujaku.
Due to the collaborative nature of sculpture in this period, it's difficult to determine exactly how much of this innovation can be credited to Unkei personally.
Regardless of who was responsible, this new style was adopted by Unkei's followers and descendants, including his sons
Tankei,
Kōun,
Kōben, and
Kōshō, and carried on until the mid-Kamakura period.
Kōben and Kōshō especially would take Unkei's style to new extremes.
[Further Information]
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