Inpa　院派

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

A school of Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師, based in Kyoto, active from the late Heian through the Kamakura period. The Inpa, together with the *Enpa 円派 school, active in Kyoto during the same period, are collectively known as *kyoto busshi 京都仏師. Inpa was founded by Jouchou's 定朝 grandson Injo 院助 (?-1077), and had major workshops *bussho 仏所, in *shichijou oomiya bussho 七条大宮仏所 and *rokujou madenokouji bussho 六条万里小路仏所. The name Inpaderived from the frequent use of the character 院 In in sculptors' names. The best known members were; Injo's pupils Inkaku 院覚 and Inchou 院朝 in the mid-12c, and their pupils Inson 院尊 (1120-98), Inkei 院慶, and Inshou 院尚 in the late 12c. Of these sculptors Inson was considered the most eminent, and was awarded the highest rank of the Buddhist priesthood in the late 12c, when the Inpa school dominated Japanese sculpture-making. They worked mainly on commissions for the Heian imperial court and nobility, and their style is representative of so-called Japanese style *wayou 和様 sculpture; gentle, with elegant features such as long, extended eyebrows, and smoothly undulating robes. Examples include the Amida Nyoraizazou 阿弥陀如来坐像 (1130) in Houkkongouin 法金剛院, believed to be by Inkaku; the Juuichimen Kannonzou 十一面観音像 (1233) in Houshakuji 宝積寺, by Inson's pupil Inpan 院範; and the Shoutoku Taishizou 聖徳太子像 (1252) in Ninnnaji 仁和寺, by Inchi 院智, all in Kyoto. Unfortunately none of Inson's works survive, although records assert that he was responsible for the construction of the halo for Nara's Toudaiji *Daibutsu 東大寺大仏 after fire damage in 1180. Between 1251 and 1266 many Inpa sculptors participated in construction of the Sentai senju Kannonzou 千体千手観音像 for Rengeouin 蓮華王院 (Sanjuusangendou 三十三間堂), Kyoto. The calm, graceful style of the Inpa perfectly suited the taste of the Kyoto aristocracy. Inpa fortunes declined in the Kamakura period when the Kamakura goverment came to favor the Nara based *Keiha 慶派 school. The Inpa continued production on a smaller scale, and enjoyed a revival in the late 14c when they worked for Shogun families and temples of the Zen 禅 and Ritsu 律 sects in the Tokyo area.

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*Jouchouyou 定朝様

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