Korean

This majestic figure is the Water-Moon Avalokitesvara (Gwaneum in Korean), a goddess renowned for her ability to assume many forms. Here, she is adorned
in sumptuous robes under a diaphanous, intricately patterned shawl. Delicately grasping an unopened lotus— the essential symbol of Buddhist awakening—she looks downward at her young acolyte Sudhana. Her radiance fills the space around her, casting its golden hue on the surrounding rock. These distinctive golden highlights, together with the patterned, transparent garments and the use of brilliant red pigment, are characteristic features of Buddhist painting from the late Goryeo period. Their presence here distinguishes this work as a rare and important example of early Korean Buddhist painting. The silk support for this painting has aged over the centuries. When the work was first made, the image would have been uninterrupted and somewhat brighter.