Unique life-size Yakushi Nyorai sculptures characterized by wavelike hair, the left elbow bent at a right angle with the forearm thrust forward, as well as abbreviated forms of expression in the hair and the pleats of the robe, may be found around the Kamakura area. However, because these types of Yakushi images are highly unusual, we may assume the existence of other images that served as models for them. In this paper, I will examine the iconography of such images while arguing that their wavelike hair was originally derived from the Shaka Nyorai at Seiryō-ji Temple, and the characteristic left arm, from the Yakushi Nyorai image at the Konponchū-dō at Enryaku-ji Temple. In addition, by comparing these images to records found in Azuma kagami, I will suggest the possibility that they were created as Ichinichi-zōryūbutsu—images made in response to urgent requests and thus characterized by abbreviated forms of expression—and clarify the importance of these unique Yakushi sculptures which were created around Kamakura during the Kamakura period.

特集 : 論集 美学・芸術学 : 美・芸術・感性をめぐる知のスパイラル(旋回)#挿表