A BUDDHIST MANUSCRIPT
Korea, Goryeo dynasty style

The folding manuscript comprises 11 indigo dyed sheets (24,7 x 9,3 cm each) used on both sides, the gilt text alternating to a silver linear structure, the first and the last pages with a floral decoration, a section of the text inside a lantern shaped cartouche, two pages with the depiction of a Buddhist triad inside a temple painted in gold, silver and polychromy.

24,7 x 103 cm

Provenance: ambassador Francesco Rausi; Bertolami Fine Art, 11 december 2018; private collection.

The production of Buddhist manuscripts (sagyong) is one of the most admired forms of art in Korea, appreciated since ancient times also in China, Japan and Mongolia, countries in which numerous examples of these illustrated texts are still preserved.
During the Goryeo period (918-1392), this devotional practice reached its artistic peak, with the production of numerous examples made for many patrons. To meet the great demand, the Royal Office for Sutras (Sagyongwon) was therefore established in the twelfth century, in which monks and professional calligraphers dedicated themselves to the production of manuscripts similar to the one presented here.
Usually, the manuscripts were made using a very precious paper obtained from the inner bark of the mulberry tree, then dyed in indigo, a background against which the calligraphic text and images (pyonsang) in gold or silver stood out. The opening and closing of the manuscript are usually decorated with arabesques of the flowers called posang tangcho.