Busshi


A busshi 2=仏師 is a Japanese term for Buddhist artists who specialized in painting or sculpting images for Buddhist temples, predominantly in the Nara period. Painters were specifically known as, whereas sculptors who worked with wood were called ki-busshi. Busshi were organized into both categories of task and grade of mastery: ,,, and. These rank designations continued in use until the Heian period.

Practices

In both the Nara and Heian periods, busshi were organized in that belonged to the imperial court, temples, and the nobility. From the 10th century, the workshops became independent from temples and began working on commission. The bussho workshops disappeared entirely during the Edo period.

List of Busshi