The Secret of the Painted Buddha: Seeing the Buddha Sculpture of the Sixth and Seventh Century from the Perspective of Science and Technology

the Buddha's Secret" exhibition recently at the National Art Gallery Se Kele Asian Art Museum exhibition, the exhibition brings together for the first time only remaining three from six Buddha statues paint China in the seventh century. The three Buddha statues are from the Freire Museum of Art (Washington), the Walters Art Museum (Baltimore) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). This exhibition is also the first time to showcase these three known early Chinese paint Buddha statues.
Unlike some sculptures made of stone, metal or clay, Chinese Buddhist lacquer sculptures are very rare. The earliest known Chinese lacquer Buddha statues are currently three, roughly from the end of the 6th century to the beginning of the 7th century. The sizes are close to real people and are now in the United States. This exhibition is also the first time to showcase these three known early Chinese paint Buddha statues. The exhibition aims to explore the process and process of using ancient Northeast Asian resin paint to make ancient Buddha sculptures. Through modern technology and scientific analysis, we can reveal to the audience how these extremely rare Chinese-sized Buddha statues are created. It also provides a deeper interpretation path for people to understand the historical context of Buddha sculpture.

A computed tomography scan of the lacquer sculpture at the Museum of Natural History at the National Museum of Natural History, image courtesy of the Flier-Sackler Gallery

“We used to think that such sculptures are precious and fragile. This exhibition has also confirmed this through scientific analysis.” Head of Cultural Relics Protection and Scientific Research, Flier-Sackler Gallery Donna Strahan said, “We found that the craftsmanship used to make these sculptures is much more complicated than the practical lacquer ware.”

In order to uncover more micro details, the Heritage Protection and Research Department of the Flier-Sackler Gallery used specialized equipment and new methods to analyze these sculptures. They used X-ray radiography and computed tomography to explore places that were not visible to the human eye. For example, the process of the Buddha's eye was analyzed by X-ray fluorescence analysis, and the bone material mixed on the paint surface was observed by scanning electron microscopy. . They also used some newly developed methods to study unusual organic materials in the paint layer. Through the use of a variety of scientific methods, this exhibition opened up a new understanding of the Chinese lacquer ware process in the sixth and seventh centuries, and also allowed visitors to understand the scientific connotation behind the ancient lacquer art.
The first painted lacquer Buddha currently known in the exhibition:

Sui Dynasty, about 580-90, painted with wood core Buddha, Walters Art Museum

This sculpture is the earliest known wood core paint Buddha in China. It shows some traditional features in the northeastern part of China in the late sixth century. The Buddha's body is carved into a column-like style, the clothes are relatively flat, and the overall lack of depth. The Buddha wore Indian civilian costumes, a rectangular apron-like cloth wrapped around his waist, and a rectangular dress on his left shoulder as a robe. Its legs crossed for a meditation posture, and both hands were missing, but depending on the position of the arm, it can be inferred that the missing hands were once placed on the legs and may form a gesture related to meditation.
Currently the best paint buddha:

Tang Dynasty, early 7th century, paint and gold-plated hollow core paint Buddha, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund

Among these Buddha statues, this lacquer Buddha retains the most pigments and bronzing. Its golden skin also allows us to feel the original spiritual territory of the three lacquer Buddhas. The top of the meat is the symbol of advanced wisdom. The earlobe is slender and will be found on all Buddha statues. The legend is Because the Buddha in history took off the earrings on the earlobe and left home to pursue the enlightenment of wisdom. In addition, this robes made of purple, red and green also hints at the Buddha's dress in history.
Painted Buddha at the Flier Gallery:

In the Tang Dynasty, at the beginning of the 7th century, the paint and gold-plated hollow core paint Buddha, Flier Gallery

The Paint Buddha and the Metropolitan Museum of Paint Buddha are the earliest known Buddha sculptures using air core paint technology. Both have narrow shoulders, slender waist, long legs, oval faces and The iconic cheekbones of Chinese Buddhist sculptures in the early seventh century. From their changing gestures and shawls, it seems that they are most likely part of a combination of four Buddha statues. This overall combination also represents the Buddhist civilization of East Asia in history. The Buddha's right hand may be placed on its knees, and the palm of the left hand is lifted outwards, presenting a serene gesture.
Natural paints, textiles, etc. are made of paint Buddha materials <br data-filtered="filtered" style='color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: "Hiragino Sans GB", "Microsoft Yahei", sans -serif; letter-spacing: 0.5px;'> This exhibition summarizes the materials used in the creation of these long-established Buddha statues. According to the research results and related introductions of the exhibition, it is known that the paint materials of the paint Buddha include multi-layered cloth strips and natural paints mixed with various substances such as bone powder and blood. In addition, there are some additional materials.
Natural lacquer: Chinese lacquer is a resin from the lacquer tree originating in Northeast Asia. It can be extracted from the oozing sap by cutting the oblique line on the bark. This juice also has the properties of poison ivy, so the extracted resin may also cause skin reactions and even fatal consequences.

Extracting resin paint from lacquer tree

Textile under the microscope

Textile: The strip of paint on the surface of the Buddha is very useful for shaping its shape. By observing its shape and vivid color under a polarizing microscope, it is presumed that the textile is "hemp". This is because under certain lighting conditions, hemp fabric is the only material that can render blue in the same direction. When it is rotated 90 degrees, it turns yellow, as shown in the figure below.

Hemp fiber under polarized light microscope

Bone meal and plasma: Partially burnt bone powder is often mixed in the resin paint used to make the paint. One of the Buddha sculptures was identified as being from a horse, while the other was identified as being from a cow. Plasma is a material with good adhesion properties, so it is used as a binder in the manufacture of lacquer Buddha, and the source of blood is still under investigation.

Bone powder particles under electron microscope scanning

Paint Buddha's production process

The craftsmanship of the paint Buddha seems simple, but in fact the three paint buddhas were built through a number of complicated paint processes. Since there are so many known lacquer wares, there is less technical knowledge about the early Buddhist lacquer wares. By studying these lacquer sculptures and the lacquer craftsmanship of another Buddha's head, which is relatively late for a hundred years (the art is currently in private collection), the exhibition traces people's history over a period of three hundred years. This process technology provides an opportunity.

The lacquer Buddha's production process is complex and time consuming. The first is to make a kernel model from wood or clay. Then, in order to build the sculpture shape, a wet cloth strip glued with lacquer is wrapped around the core. Subsequently, a multi-layer paint is applied to the outside, which contains some substances that can be thickened into a paste (including oil, blood and charred bone powder). The whole process is somewhat like making a cake, the purpose of which is to create a three-dimensional shape through the overlap and folds of the strips.
Each paint layer must be cured in humid air for up to twenty-four hours. Once solidified, the inner core of the clay is removed from the sculpture, making it a hollow core sculpture; if the wooden core used in the beginning is removed, it is not necessary to remove it to form a wooden core sculpture. The sculpture is then painted in vivid colors to give a realistic look. After the coloring process, gold foil is added to the surface layer to create a similar glow effect.

Buddha sculpture after coloring, Tang Dynasty, early 7th century, air-painted Buddha with paint and gold plating, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund

After the paint was originally made, the color of the paint Buddha was more vivid. The skin area is painted pink and covered with a sparkling gold foil. The bright blue color indicates the original color of the hair, and the lips also have a hint of red. The robe is embellished with red squares, representing the monk's patchwork robes, while the gown retains the decorative border lines. At present, the color and metal texture of the lacquer Buddha that people have seen have been worn to varying degrees, but they still can see their past brilliance from the surface traces.
The exhibition was exhibited at the Sackler Gallery of the National Museum of Asian Art. The National Museum of Asian Art, located in Washington National Mall, is part of the Smithsonian Institution and has the largest collection of Asian art in the United States and is one of the world's most important Asian art collections. The pavilion consists of two art galleries, the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The two pavilions are adjacent to each other and can be connected by an underground passage. Both museums focus on Asian art and have been reopened in October 2017 after 19 months of renovation. The refurbishment of the Freire Art Gallery is more open and quiet, allowing the audience to watch the collections with patience; the Seckler Art Gallery incorporates many digital experience technologies, such as digital touch screens embedded in the exhibition, 3D projection, etc. A more youthful interactive experience.

Friel Sackler Gallery

The Flier Gallery was founded in 1923 and was the first art museum of the Smithsonian Institution. The Sackler Art Museum joined the Society in 1987. Both museums have focused on the collection of Asian art collections, and today there are many exhibitions that showcase the vitality of Asian ancient worlds and contemporary Asian artists. The two museums merged to become the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States, with more than 40,000 Asian art collections, spanning from the Neolithic Age to the present, including Chinese jade, bronze and painting, Islamic culture and ancient Near East art. It is reported that the exhibition "The Secret of the Paint Buddha" will last until June 10, 2018.

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