僧形神坐像そうぎょうしんざぞう

  • 平安時代
  • 12c
  • 木造彩色(桧)
  • H-20.3 D-9 W-12.9
  • 所蔵
    石清水八幡宮伝来
解説(春の玉手箱)

 十一面観音像、僧形像ともに顔を正面に向け、一見、胸前正面にあげた両袖の中で手を合わせながら坐る神像彫刻に通有の形式を備えているように見える。しかし背面を見ると、左肩を覆い、右の脇腹へとめぐる大衣または袈裟風の表現が見られ、僧形像が下着の上に朱色の大衣を着て、その上に袈裟を着けているらしいことがわかる。着衣形式は混乱しているものの、これらの像が背面に仏教彫刻の伝統も残しながら、正面観としては神像彫刻風にまとめられていることが分かる。
 両像は桧と思われる一材から刻出され、内刳もない同様の構造を持っており、作風、大きさも近いことから、元来一具として制作されたものと思われるが、さらに十一面観音の像が背後に木芯をはずし、僧形像が膝前に木芯をはずしている様子を観察すると、同じ材の前後から木取りされたものと推定される。
 わが国で本地垂迹の考え方が広まった平安時代後期に、中央の作風を色濃く反映している地で、いずれかの神社の本地仏として制作されたものであろう。

十一面神坐像

Catalogue Entry

Both the Eleven‐headed Kannon and the seated monk are shown facing directly forward, and at first glance they have the same format as the seated Shinto deity figures with hands clasped inside their sleeves held up in front of their chests. But if we look at the back of these figures we can see that their large drapery covers the left shoulder and circles to the right hip in a Buddhist robe style, and the priest figure is shown wearing a lower layer, covered by a red over garment, and topped with the Buddhist kesa robe layer. This mixture of robe styles reveals that these figures have Buddhist imagery in their background, while their front appearance is distinctively Shinto in style.

Both figures are carved from single blocks of what appears to be hinoki wood, and neither has been hollowed out. Their stylistic and size similarities seem to indicate that they were originally intended as a pair. The Kannon has a wood grain pattern on its back that is echoed by that on the front of the priest figure, which would suggest that the two figures were carved from the same piece of wood.

The late Heian period saw the spread of a religious form which mixed Buddhist and Shinto traditions. These figures seem to represent Honji Buddhist avatars for placement in Shinto shrines whose carving style was strongly influenced by the main Buddhist styles of the day.

十一面神坐像