Longmen Binyang Central Cave, northwest wall, showing part of "Offering Procession of the Empress as Donor with Her Court" relief, Yamanaka Postcards of China, circa 1912

Information

Title

Longmen Binyang Central Cave, northwest wall, showing part of "Offering Procession of the Empress as Donor with Her Court" relief, Yamanaka Postcards of China, circa 1912

龙门宾阳中洞, 西北壁, 展示“文昭皇后礼佛图”浮雕的一部分，中国山中明信片，约 1912 年

Creator

unknown

Work Type

cave temples

reliefs

Date

386–534 C.E.

Period

Northern Wei

Cultural Context

Chinese

Buddhism

Material

limestone

Technique

relief

Capture Date

1912

File Format

image

Descriptions and Subjects

Work Description

At Longmen, following the immediate precedent of Yungang, a great series of cave chapels were cut into the living rock of a long, high limestone cliff. The Binyang cave, from which this relief comes, was finished in 523 under imperial patronage. The emperor and his retinue were shown in a similar relief carved inside the cave to the proper left of the door. The empress and her attendants occupied the right side of the door. They are concrete expressions of the devotion of the Northern Wei court to Buddhism. The reliefs are intended to be taken as permanent memorials of the emperor and empress in an act of worshipful donation to the image of Buddha, which was carved at the opposite end of the cave chapel. The central figure, wearing a crown of lotus flowers, is probably the empress, the smaller figure, similarly crowned, probably a secondary empress.

This carving is one of the most satisfying of Chinese sculptures to have survived. Stylistically, it shows a contemporary secular side of Chinese sculpture not found in the more rigid, conservative religious images. Following courtly traditions, the figures have been given elongated slender proportions with high waists and hips bent forward. This lends maximum elegance to the long, gently curving lines of the drapery pleats and sleeves. It also ensures a stateliness to the procession and gives it gracefully measured forward movement. Although the placement of the heads is based upon a geometric scheme of alternately inverted triangles, informality is injected into the scene through the gestures and poses of the attendants. Grouping is also adequate to establish a feeling of depth.

The carving has been adjusted to take into account the oblique light from the door. Note that the faces have been twisted about a medial nasal line and distorted so that the nose projects sharply and the backside of the face is more fully seen. This adjustment utilizes the oblique light by casting strong shadows, thus making the figures more "readable." Drapery pleats have similarly been adjusted to make maximum use of the dim, raking light.

“在龙门，继云冈的先例之后，一系列巨大的洞穴教堂被凿入又长又高的石灰岩悬崖的活岩中。这幅浮雕的来源宾阳洞穴于 523 年在皇帝的赞助下竣工。 洞内左侧有类似的浮雕，刻有皇帝及其随从，右侧则有皇后及其侍从，是北魏宫廷笃信佛教的具体表现。 这些浮雕旨在作为皇帝和皇后对佛像的崇拜行为的永久纪念，佛像雕刻在石窟教堂的另一端。 可能是皇后，身材较小，同样加冕，可能是次皇后。

这件雕刻品是现存最令人满意的中国雕塑品之一。 从风格上来说，它展示了中国雕塑当代世俗的一面，而在更为僵化、保守的宗教图像中却找不到这一面。 遵循宫廷传统，人物身材修长，腰部高耸，臀部向前弯曲。 这为褶皱和袖子的长而柔和的曲线赋予了最大的优雅。 它还确保了游行队伍的庄严，并使其优雅地向前移动。 尽管头部的放置是基于交替倒三角形的几何方案，但通过服务员的手势和姿势，非正式性被注入到场景中。 分组也足以建立深度感。

雕刻已经过调整，以考虑来自门的斜光。 请注意，脸部已围绕内侧鼻线扭曲并扭曲，因此鼻子急剧突出，并且可以更充分地看到脸部的背面。 这种调整通过投射强烈的阴影来利用斜光，从而使人物更加“可读”。窗帘褶皱也进行了类似的调整，以最大限度地利用昏暗的倾斜光线。

Image Description

historical photo. Original image title: FSA A.01 12.05YA. Original image description: Postcards of Chinese cave temples produced by Yamanaka & Co., Beijing, ca.1913; Charles L. Freer Papers; Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives ; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

历史照片。 原始图片标题：FSA A.01 12.05YA。 原图描述：山中制作所制作的中国石窟寺明信片，北京，约1913年； 查尔斯·L·弗里尔论文； 弗利尔艺术画廊和阿瑟·萨克勒画廊档案馆； 史密森学会，华盛顿特区

Subjects

cave temples

reliefs

Yamanaka & Company

postcards

Rights and Identifier

Work Acquisition

Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Image Rights

Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution.; Please email to AVRreference@si.edu; Call 202.633.0533 or fax to 202.357.4911

Image Source

Smithsonian Institution Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Work ID

40-38

Image ID

FSA A.01 12.05YA