page_title: Unkei
section_title: Style
hierarchical_section_title: Unkei / Style
caption_attribution_description: English: Muchaku (detail) by Unkei (Kōfuku-ji, Nara)
context_page_description: Unkei 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, similar in style to pieces by his father, Kōkei. However, the sculptures he produced for the Tōdai-ji in Nara show a flair for realism different from anything Japan had seen before. Today, Unkei is the best known of the Kei artists, and many art historians consider him its "most distinguished member".
context_section_description: Unkei's early works are similar in style to those of his father, Kōkei, and contemporary, Kaikei. They are fairly traditional and show a certain delicateness. The works Unkei sculpted around 1210 for the Hokuendō (North Octagonal Hall) at Tōdai-ji, on the other hand, are indicative of his fully developed style. By this time, Unkei had begun to stress realism over tradition and solid, muscular forms over ephemeral, delicate ones.
  Unkei's Miroku Butsu is in the tradition of previous Buddha figures, including those of his father and ultimately Tori Busshi. Like the works of those sculptors, the Buddha is depicted as seated and backed by an intricate halo. However, Unkei's work features further strides toward realism. Crystal inlays cause the eyes to shine, and details are carved deeply and in new detail. Furthermore, Unkei's work does not follow the canon of proportions established by Jōchō in the Heian period. Unkei's figure instead has a long torso that does not match the distance between the figures knees (a style used by sculptors for the preceding 150 years). Despite this, Unkei's Buddha does not look unbalanced or unwieldy. Rather, it is a lifelike Buddha who seems kind and empathic. In essence, Unkei created a new style of sculpture.
  This new realism is especially evident in Unkei's non-Buddha statuary. His Kongō Rikishi guardians stand contrapposto with dramatic stances. Their musculature, though anatomically incorrect, is well detailed, making them appear to be in mid-movement. These Niō reflect the warrior lifestyle and samurai ideals to which Unkei was exposed in Kamakura.
  Unkei's rakan figures, Mujaku and Seshin, take this realism to an even higher level, making the figures appear almost portrait-like. Both statues sport priestly vestments that frame their bodies realistically. They stand life-size and alone and are fully sculpted in the round as if intended to be viewed from any angle. Mujaku is depicted as a thin man manipulating some sort of holy, cloth-wrapped object. He appears reserved and reflective. Seshin, in contrast, is depicted in mid conversation, gesturing and speaking, an extroverted counterweight to the solemn Mujaku. The men are shown as specific people, not simply members of a stock type.
  Due to the collaborative nature of sculpture in this period, it is difficult to determine exactly how much of this innovation can be credited to Unkei personally. Regardless of who was responsible, this new style was adopted by Unkei's followers and descendants, including his sons Tankei, Kōun, Kōben, and Kōshō, and carried on until the mid-Kamakura period. Kōben and Kōshō especially would take Unkei's style to new extremes.
caption: Detail of Muchaku at Kōfuku-ji; National Treasure
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