南北朝後期・隋代における法界佛像の圖像形成 --フリーア美術館所藏作例を中心に--

Abstract

This paper investigates the statue of the Cosmological Buddha (法界佛像) in the Freer Gallery of Art, which can be identified as Vairocana (盧舍那). This study focuses on the process of how the statue was created, especially the formation of the Buddhist Cosmology Image that carved on the front of its monastic robe. First, I re-examine some important motifs lining up vertically along the central part of the robe and suggest the palace-like architecture below the Mountain Sumeru should be identified as Kapilavastu, the symbol of the center of the terrestrial world. Moreover, the front-facing horse on the vertical axis of the robe can be interpreted as the motif that implies the Buddha is revealing his hidden male organ. Next, I point out that the Buddhist Cosmology Image carved on the front of the statue has multiple iconographical and textual sources. Therefore, it is difficult to regard the Buddhist Cosmology Image as the representation of Buddhist Cosmology that derived from the Avatamsaka Sutra. Finally, by reassessing the impact of the Avatamsaka Sutra on the formation of the statue, I propose that the practice/conduct of visualizing the Buddhist Cosmology on the surface of a Buddha statue originates from the Avatamsaka Sutra.