1000分の1？

One of a Thousand?

ただいま展示中の如来坐像（敦煌石窟伝来／北魏時代・6世紀中頃）です。

On display at the gallery now is this seated Buddha figure from the Dunhuang caves, dating from the Northern Wei Dynasty (mid-6th century).



敦煌石窟は、中国4～14世紀にわたり造営された石窟寺院です。

粗い岩層のため、彫刻ではなく、
塑造（泥土に草木の繊維を混ぜて固め、造形する技法）で仏像がつくられたり、
壁土を塗って壁画が描かれたりしたようです。

The Dunhuang caves are a series of cave temples in China that were built over a long period of time, from the 4th to 14th centuries.

Due to the brittle nature of the stone there, figures were not carved directly into the cave walls, but were rather molded from stucco reinforced by plant fibers, plastered to the walls, and painted afterward with vivid pigments.




敦煌千仏洞と呼ばれるくらいですので、こちらも、
千仏表現の一部、
恐らくこのような壁面に貼り付けてあったのでしょう。（写真は参考）

The Dunhuang caves are often called the "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas," and this image is one of many that adorned the walls of these caves, much in the fashion reproduced in the following picture.




敦煌石窟が世に知られたのは、
20世紀初めに探検家によって偶然発見されてからと言いますので、神秘的です。

Known now throughout the world, it is fascinating that these caves were only accidentally rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century.