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GLOSSARY
Japanese religious sculpture
Among the most interesting features of Japanese religious sculpture is the extraordinary complexity of Buddhist iconography, brought about by centuries of adaptation to Japanese taste and, above all, by the intermingling of pure Buddhism, Shinto and shamanistic folk beliefs. The earliest works, represented by the sculpture of Horynji in Nara, clearly show their Indo-European derivation; the iconography is directly drawn from that of Buddhism in Korea and China during the 6th and 7th centuries.
By the 12th century, however, and the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185-1336) there had evolved a religious sculpture which was conspicuously Japanese; the portrait sculpture of this time-the statue of the patriarch Mujaku in Kofukuji being one example- is remarkable for its naturalism and spiritual power. Some of the finest examples of Shinto sculpture also date from this period. The intermingling of Buddhism and Shinto can be seen in the beautiful seated figure of the Shinto god Hachiman in the guise of a Buddhist monk. It was sculpted in wood and painted by Kaikei. This artist and his mentor, Unkei-the creator of the image of Mujaku mentioned above-were the supreme masters of Kamakura period sculpture.