Wibongsa Temple Taejoam Hermitage: Nine Thousand Five Hundred Buddhas

SOUTH KOREA, North Jeolla, Wanju; Joseon dynasty

This set of eight paintings kept in the Taejoam Hermitage of Wibongsa Temple depicts Amitabha Buddha and innumerable Buddhas of the Western Pure Land. According to inscriptions on the artworks, the set was made by 18 painters in 1879. The Buddhas all wear red robes and have green nimbuses. They sit close together, filling the pictures. Four of the paintings illustrate specific halls within the Pure Land, identified by horizontal inscriptions beside the groups of figures.
The pictures are primarily colored in red and green complemented with vermilion, dark blue, and yellow. The set features a variety of arrangements, while in other artworks with a similar theme, such as the illustration of the Thousand Buddhas in Seonunsa Temple, the layout is more standardized.