Tankei (湛慶 1173 – June 13, 1256) was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of the

Kei school The was a Japanese school (style) of Buddhist sculpture which emerged in the early Kamakura period (c. 1200). Based in Nara, it was the dominant school in Buddhist sculpture in Japan into the 14th century, and remained influential until the 19th. ...

, which flourished in the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. He was the student of and eldest son of the master sculptor

Unkei Unkei ( ja, 運慶; – 1223) was a Japanese sculptor of the Kei school, which flourished in the Kamakura period. He specialized in statues of the Buddha and other important Buddhist figures. Unkei's early works are fairly traditional, simil ...

Famous Works

*Statue of ''Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokiteśvara'' in the temple known as Sanjusangen-dō in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. *The statue of Ugyō, one of the

Niō are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajra ...

guardians at the Nandaimon in front of the temple

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year ...

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

, with Jōkaku and 12 assistant sculptors.

References

* Hiromichi Soejima, « Japan, §V: Sculpture > (iv) Kamakura period (1185–1333) » rchive Oxford Art Online, université d’Oxford. Consulté le 3 août 2012 * Hisashi Mōri, Sculpture of the Kamakura period, vol. 11, Weatherhill, coll. « Heibonsha Survey of Japanese Art », 1974 (), p. 70 * Victor Harris et Ken Matsushima, Kamakura: the renaissance of Japanese sculpture 1185–1333, British Museum Press, 2010 (), p. 36-37 Kei school 1173 births 1256 deaths Japanese sculptors People of Heian-period Japan People of Kamakura-period Japan Heian period Buddhists Kamakura period Buddhists {{Asia-sculptor-stub