Board painting - Itae

An ancient art term used mainly in Japanese and Chinese art. Colored paintings on wooden boards are collectively called board paintings, as distinguished from paintings on wall clay or cloth (linen, silk). In this case, there are two ways to paint: a thin layer of white clay on the surface of the board as a base and then color on top of that, or a linen cloth is covered on the board, lacquered, and painted with white clay as a base. Board paintings are used in two areas: as decorative paintings for crafts and as murals, that is, on the interior walls of temples and pagodas. Representative examples of the former are the inlaid board paintings seen in the Tamamushi Zushi (Tamamushi Shrine) and the Shumiza (Shumiza) of the Tachibana Lady Nenjibutsu (Buddha's Guardian Buddha) Shrine at Horyu-ji Temple. In particular, the Honshotan (Tales of the Life of a Woman) painted on both sides of the Tamamushi Zushi is famous as a masterpiece of Asuka period painting. Many of the latter are large paintings made by joining together boards, and masterpieces of Buddhist painting from the early Heian period include the Taishakuten Mandala in the Golden Hall of Muroji Temple in Nara, and the Ryōkai Mandala and Shingon Eight Patriarchs in the Five-Story Pagoda of Daigoji Temple in Kyoto. In addition, the murals and door paintings around the principal image of Byodo-in Temple in Uji are large wooden paintings depicting the coming of the Buddha, and are known as masterpieces of Yamato-e. In the Kamakura period, there are many important relics in the history of painting, such as the guardian deity of Yakushi-ji Temple in Nara, the wooden painting of the deity at Yasumigaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine, and the Lotus Sutra painting in the pagoda of Saimyō-ji Temple in Shiga. Outside of Japan, the panel painting depicting the tale of the westward migration of silkworms (British Museum), which Stein excavated at the site of the Dandān-Uilik temple near Khotan on the southern route of the Western Regions, is a valuable relic that gives insight into temple murals in Central Asia.

[Shinichi Nagai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

主として日本・中国美術で使われる古美術用語。壁土や布（麻、絹）に描いた絵と区別して、木の板に描いた彩色画を一括して板絵と称する。この場合、板の表面に白土を薄く塗って下地とし、その上に彩色するのと、板に麻布を張り漆を置いて白土を塗り下地にして描くのと2通りのやり方がある。板絵の用いられる分野としては、工芸品の装飾画として描かれる場合と、壁画、つまり堂塔の内部の壁面に描かれる場合の二つに分けることができる。前者を代表するものに法隆寺の玉虫厨子(たまむしずし)および橘夫人念持仏(たちばなふじんねんじぶつ)厨子の須弥座(しゅみざ)にみられる、はめ込みになっている板絵がある。とくに玉虫厨子の両側面に描かれた本生譚(ほんしょうたん)は飛鳥(あすか)期絵画の名品として名高い。後者では板を矧(は)ぎ合わせ大画面を構成するものが多く、奈良室生寺(むろうじ)金堂の伝帝釈天曼荼羅図(たいしゃくてんまんだらず)、京都醍醐寺(だいごじ)五重塔の両界曼荼羅図と真言八祖像などは平安前期の仏画の傑作である。また宇治平等院鳳凰堂(ほうおうどう)の本尊の周囲の壁画、扉(とびら)絵も大画面の板絵として描かれた来迎図(らいごうず)で、大和絵(やまとえ)の名品として知られる。鎌倉時代になると奈良薬師寺の鎮守、休ヶ岡八幡宮(やすみがおかはちまんぐう)の板絵神像、滋賀西明寺塔内の法華説相図など絵画史上重要な遺品が多い。日本以外ではスタインが西域南道コータン（ホータン）付近のダンダーン・ウイリク寺院址(し)で発掘将来した蚕種西漸説話の板絵（大英博物館）は、中央アジアにおける寺院の壁画を知る貴重な遺品である。

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