The naturalistic sculpture of Unkei

The naturalistic sculpture of Unkei (1148-1223) was a high point in the history of Japanese art. Not only was Unkei himself one of the greatest of Japanese artists, his followers continued to develop the style he initiated, and provided many more masterpieces of sculpture. Unkei's singular achievement was the development of wooden portrait sculpture that was truly devoted to the depiction of the distinctive individual. Stylized portraiture of earlier decades was replaced by Unkei's new naturalism. In addition, Unkei developed new techniques in the preparation and carving of his sculptures that facilitated his own artistic innovations. A discussion of one of Unkei's mature works will demonstrate how he worked, what he accomplished, and what was innovative in his work.

The sculpture discussed here is Unkei's Muchaka, an imaginary portrait of the Indian patriarch Asanga. This work has been dated between 1208 and 1212. It was made for the North Octagonal Hall of the Kofuku-ji monastery at Nara. The statue, which measures 194.7 cm tall, was carved from several pieces of wood, and was painted.

Unkei did not simply make a decision to adopt a naturalistic approach to sculpture. His father, the famous sculptor Kokei, had already begun to take his art in that direction. In works such as the statues of the Six Monks of the Hosso Sect (1189), Kokei had broken with the effete elegance of late Fujiwara art. The "vigorous naturalism" of these statues was "a harbinger of the f

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had been constrained by the physical limitations inherent in the logs they worked with. Unkei has traditionally been credited with changing the methods of wood sculptors, and these changes were "a determining factor in the new naturalism and in portraiture" (Warner 35). In place of the old system, Unkei's shop employed dozens of small, oddly shaped pieces that fitted carefully together following an "elaborate geometry" (Warner 36). The pieces were assembled into a hollow pile that approximated the shape of the statue, and the rough carving was done by assistants. Staples were applied in the back to clamp the statue closed, and the master could then begin the fine carving. In the event that mistakes were made, the pieces could be replaced. This method meant that the grain of the wood, and its flaws and irregularities, no longer controlled the artist as he worked. Nor was the artist constrained any longer by the basic log shape, to which, in the past, arms and, sometimes even toes, were added. This change in method was essential for the Kei sculptors because conveying the sense of a living, individualized person relied on so many subtleties of carving that even the slightest constraints on the artist could ruin the effect h

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