ギャラリー雅堂だより 2021年12月「雪の室生寺」

奈良にある女人高野と呼ばれる室生寺には日本で二番目に古い五重塔がある。1200年前、建立された当初は修験の場である山岳寺院であったと伝えられ、その塔は山の斜面の深い木々に包まれるようにひっそりと建っている。

 

訪れる人もなく音の消えた境内に、降り積もる雪を踏む自身の足音と、不意に上空を横切る鳥の鋭い鳴き声だけが響く。足下の雪に気を取られ目を上げると、思いがけず近くにもう五重塔が迫っていた。塔の丹色が屋根の庇の陰の濃さに映え、厳しい修行の場と言うより、むしろ小さく可憐で美しい。

 

北国岩手で少年時代を過ごし、冬が一番好きな季節で雪は日常の生活の中にあったと言う井堂雅夫にとって、雪景色の室生寺は親しみやすく、四季の取材の中でも特に好んだモチーフでした。和紙の紙の白さをそのまま生かした雪の表現が生きて、雪景色にも拘わらずどこか暖かみのある作品です。

 Blog Post Dec. 2021

“Murouji Temple in the snow”

Murouji Temple in Nara, known as Nyonin Kouya, has the second oldest five-story pagoda in Japan. The pagoda is said to have been built 1200 years ago as a mountain temple, a place of asceticism, and stands quietly on the slope of the mountain, surrounded by deep trees.

 

In the empty, noiseless precincts, the only sounds heard are of your own footsteps on the falling snow and the sharp chirping of a bird that unexpectedly crosses the sky. When looking up, after having been distracted by the snow under the feet, you could see the five-story pagoda already close by. The tan color of the pagoda is reflected in the dark shade of the roof's eaves, making it look small, pretty and beautiful rather than a place of severe training.

 

For Masao Ido, who spent his boyhood in Iwate in the north of Japan and said that winter was his favorite season and that snow was a part of his daily life, the snowy landscape of Muroji Temple was familiar to him and was a favorite motif in his coverage of the four seasons. The whiteness of the washi (Japanese paper) is used to express the snow, giving the work a warmth despite the snowy landscape.

ギャラリー雅堂

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