UNKEI

born 1148? died 1223 The priest Muchaku, painted wood sculpture by Unkei (11481223), Kamakura period. In the Japanese sculptor of the Late Heian (8971185) and early Kamakura (11921333) periods, who established a style of Buddhist sculpture that had an immense impact on Japanese art for centuries. Unkei's father, Kokei, was himself a famous sculptor. Unkei became a sculptor of merit before age 20 and was commissioned by the Kamakura shogunate (the military government with headquarters in Kamakura) to make statues for the Kofuku Temple and Todai Temple in Nara. He undertook the task with the help of Kaikei, his father's best pupil, and over 20 assistants. Of their joint products, the nearly 26-foot- (8-metre-) tall statues of the Nio (two giant protector gods of temples) at the Nandai-mon (Great South Gate) of Todai Temple (completed in 1203) are best known. The realistic and dynamic style of these statues is typical of Unkei's art. In his later years he chiefly worked for the Kamakura shogunate, producing many portrait sculptures.