Forty-eight Buddhas

This is the general term for a group of small gilt bronze Buddhas that are part of the more than 300 treasures (known as the Horyuji Treasures) donated to the Imperial Family by Horyuji Temple in 1878 (Meiji 11). They were transferred from the Imperial Family to the Tokyo National Museum in 1947 (Showa 22), and are currently all on display in the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures within the museum. There are actually 52 pieces, making it the largest collection of gilt bronze Buddhas in Japan, and it is valuable not only for its provenance, but also for learning about the development of styles in the 7th and 8th centuries.

These are thought to be part of a mixture of the 40 or so statues that were transferred from the branch temple Tachibana-dera to Horyuji Temple during the Heian period and the 100 or so statues that had been in Horyuji Temple's possession before then, and the remaining 10 or so statues are still in Horyuji Temple's possession today. All were made between the 7th and early 8th centuries, and most of them are around 30 centimeters in size, but they are almost completely unrelated to each other and have little to do with temple events, and the two statues that have inscriptions on them are personal statues judging from the inscriptions, and they are too small to be worshipped in the temple. For these reasons, it is thought that these were probably the guardian Buddhas of aristocrats, and that they were donated to branch temples of Horyuji Temple or surrounding temples as some kind of memorial, and gradually gathered at Horyuji Temple.

[Akio Sato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1878年（明治11）法隆寺から皇室に献納された三百数十点に及ぶ宝物（いわゆる法隆寺献納宝物）の一部にあたる小金銅仏群の総称。1947年（昭和22）に皇室から東京国立博物館に移管され、現在は同館構内の法隆寺宝物館にすべて陳列されている。実際は52点あり、日本における最大の金銅仏コレクションとして、また伝来が確実な点でも、7～8世紀の様式展開を知るうえでも貴重な存在である。

　これらは平安時代に末寺の橘寺(たちばなでら)から法隆寺に移された四十数体と、それ以前に法隆寺に所蔵されていた100体余とが混じり合ったものの一部と考えられ、その残りの一部十数体は現在もなお法隆寺に所蔵されている。すべて7世紀から8世紀初頭にかけて制作されたもので、30センチメートル前後の像が多いが、ほとんど互いに関連のない像であるうえ、寺の行事とも関係が少ないこと、造像銘のある2体もその文案からみて個人的な造像であること、寺の礼拝像としては小さすぎることなどから、これらはおそらく貴族たちの念持仏(ねんじぶつ)であり、なんらかの記念に法隆寺の末寺や周辺の寺へ納められたものが、しだいに法隆寺に集まったものであろうと考えられている。

［佐藤昭夫］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例