Enpa　円派

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

A Buddhist sculpture school *bussho 仏所, active in Kyoto from the 11c onward. The name Enpa is derived from the frequent use of the character 円 'En' in sculptors' names. Enpa and *Inpa 院派, Kyoto's other major guild of Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師, are collectively known as *kyoto busshi 京都仏師. Enpa's principal workshop *sanjou bussho 三条仏所, was established in Sanjou, probably in the late 12c, and the term sanjou bussho was sometimes used later to refer to the Enpa generally. The Enpa was founded by Jouchou's 定朝 (?-1057) pupil Chousei 長勢 (1010-91), and was continued by his descendants and disciples, including Ensei 円勢 (?-1134), Chouen 長円 (?-1150), Ken-en 賢円 (active mid -late 12c), Myouen 明円 (？-1199), and Kyouen 経円 (active early-13c). During the Heian period the Enpa were supported by the Kyoto imperial family, nobility and temples, and in the 12c they were the dominant school in Japanese Buddhist statuary. They used a gentle, refined style, closely based on Jouchou's (see *Jouchouyou 定朝様). Good examples include: Nikkou Gakkou Bosatsuzou 日光･月光菩薩像 (1064) and Juuni Shinshouzou 十二神将像 (1064) in Kouryuuji 広隆寺 (Kyoto) by Chousei; Godai Myououzou 五大明王像 (1176-77) in Daikakuji 大覚寺 (Kyoto) by Myouen; and Amida Nyoraizou 阿弥陀如来像 (1222) in Kongourinji 金剛輪寺 (Shiga prefecture) by Kyouen. In the 13-14c the Nara based school *Keiha 慶派, sponsored by the Kamakura government, became more powerful than the Kyoto schools. However, the Enpa continued production, and there was considerable intermixing and collaboration between the schools. Between 1251 and 1266, Ryuuen 隆円 and other Enpa sculptors worked together with Inpa and Keiha artists on Sentai Senju Kannonzou 千体千手観音像 in Rengeouin 蓮華王院 (Kyoto, Sanjuusangendou 三十三間堂). Enpa sculptors also set up workshops in regional centres outside Kyoto, as for example in Fukushima and Kamakura. In the Muromachi period workshops were further fragmented, but the Enpa style continued to exert an influence on sculpture of the period.

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