Portrait Sculpture of Priest Gyōki

Japan

early 17th century

Wood, gesso, lacquer, pigment, and gold

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A seated wooden sculpture of a bald, elderly man with a stern expression, wearing flowing robes and holding a thin rod in his hands. The sculpture is detailed with visible aging and paint. A seated wooden sculpture of a bald, elderly man with a stern expression, wearing flowing robes and holding a thin rod in his hands. The sculpture is detailed with visible aging and paint. Gyōki (668–749) was one of the most celebrated Buddhist priests of the Nara period (710–94), revered as much for his spirituality as for his social and civic accomplishments. His most monumental undertaking was the casting of a colossal bronze statue of the Cosmic Buddha, Vairocana, at the temple Tōdaiji in the Japanese capital of Nara. This statue of Gyōki was created nearly a thousand years later, when interest in the life of the priest was reki