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[caption id="attachment_460" align="aligncenter" width="212"] Maître Chigong, fin de l'époque Choson, 101,5 X 63,6 cm. Copyright Musée national de Corée/National Museum of Korea (NMK)[/caption] Exposition : “Arhats and Eminent Monks”Musée national de Corée, SéoulJusqu’au 12 mai 2013Le Musée national de Corée présente une sélection d’une quinzaine de peintures bouddhiques dont deux peintures rares de l’époque Koryo (918-1392) représentant les Cinq cents Arhats.&#160;Présentation en anglais :The National Museum of Korea (Director Kim Young-na) presents a new collection of Buddhist paintings on September 18, 2012 in the Buddhist Painting Gallery. Since the opening in 2005, the gallery has been used to guide art lovers to a comprehensive view to the Korean Buddhist paintings, and in the second half of last year introduced a system in which a specific subject is selected for each new collection to be exhibited with an aim to introduce viewers to the Buddhist art in a more interesting and profound manner. The new exhibition, Arhats and Eminent Monks, is the third event held under the system after Buddhist Paintings in the Hall of the Underworld held in the second half last year and Buddhist Paintings in the Three Sages Shrine in the first half this year.&#160;Arhats are Buddha’s ardent followers who attained enlightenment through spiritual practices. In painting, they appear as “Sixteen Arhats” or “Five Hundred Arhats” and are enshrined in Nahanjeon (Hall of Arhats) or Yeongsanjeon (Hall of Vulture Peak) in a Buddhist temple. Arhats are admired among Buddhist followers for their spiritual achievement and worshipped as divine beings. Eminent monks, revered for their virtues and erudition, were also painted and commemorated in various temples. Portraits of such eminent monks were sometimes made many years after their death, and many of them were copied from their originals, often resulting in a figure different from the sitter’s real look. Whatever the case, the portraits of eminent monks continued to be made and enshrined in many monasteries. In Seon sect of Mahayana Buddhism, portraits of the sect founders have been regarded very important as a symbol of the authority and tradition maintained by each sect.&#160;The new exhibition held in the NMK consists of 15 paintings of arhats and eminent monks including two works of Five Hundred Arhats painted during the Goryeo Period (918-1392). They were painted between 1235 and 1236 according to the tradition of worshipping five hundred arhats, praying to them to help defeat enemy forces and bring peace to the country. The paintings have lost much of the original vividness through the passage of time and hence only rarely shown to the public. The two arhat paintings presented in this event are “Honorable Arhat Hyegungo, the 170th” and “Honorable Arhat Uitong, the 357th”.&#160;The portraits of eminent monks newly exhibited to the public through this event include those capturing the leaders of the Korean Buddhist community of their time. They are Giheo Yeonggyu (?-1592) who is generally regarded as one of the three greatest leaders of monk warriors who fought against the Japanese forces that invaded Korea in 1592, and Hwadam Gyeonghwa (1786-1848), a great scholar in the school of influential thinkers such as Cheongheo Hyujeong (a.k.a. Great Master Seosan, 1520-1604) and Pyeonyang Eongi (1581-1644). The portrait of the latter depicts the monk looking at the viewer with his spectacles laid on an opened book as if he has just raised his face from the scripture. The book and the spectacles seem to be used to highlight his intelligence and knowledge. Other eminent monks whose portraits are displayed in this exhibition include Bodhidharma (?-536) who is revered as the founder of the Chinese Chan (or Seon) Buddhism, and Jigong (?-1363), an Indian monk who exerted a strong influence upon the Buddhist community of late Goryeo. Viewers may be interested in the portrait of Mugyeong Gwanju (19th c.) who was a painter as well as a monk. The NMK acquired the portrait in 2010 and presents to the public for the first time.&#160;Both arhats and eminent monks are practitioners of the dharma and awakened beings who followed in the footsteps of the Buddha. A visit to the NMK to enjoy this new exhibition of Buddhist paintings may offer viewers an opportunity to meditate over Buddhist teachings and truths.&#160;Source : Musée national de Corée &#160;