NEW YORK—Little known to the Western world, the Korean kingdom of Silla (57 B.C.–A.D. 935), which unified most of the Korean Peninsula, is one of the world’s longest dynasties, ruled by the Kim family for most of its 992 years.
From Nov. 4, nearly 100 objects created between A.D. 400 and 800, many of them national treasures, are on loan from the Gyeongju National Museum and the National Museum of Korea. The exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum is the first in the West to focus exclusively on the arts of Silla (pronounced “shilla”).
The exhibition is divided into three parts: the royal tombs, international trade, and the influence of Buddhism.
Interred Wonders
Buddhist legends say that in heavenly kingdoms, everything—from the birds to the trees—shines like gold. That is the visual effect you get when you emerge from a dark foyer meant to mimic the subterranean experience of an ancient Korean tomb and come face to face with cases upon cases of gold and gilded objects.
This first part of this exhibit features the regalia of Silla royalty excavated from the royal tombs in Gyeongju, Silla’s capital.
Until the mid-sixth century when small stone tombs were adopted, the tombs at Gyeongju were “constructed of wood, sealed with clay, and covered with mounds of stone and earth,” according to an essay on the Met’s website by department of Asian art associate curator Soyoung Lee.
A video of such a site—grassy and tranquil, nearly indistinguishable from any normal hill—plays on a large screen in the entrance to the exhibit.
Humble and nondescript though these tombs were, their contents are dazzling.
Bold necklaces, earrings, rings, bangles, and headgear finished with delicate details Van Cleef and Arpels would envy, could be found in the tombs of both male and female royalty. But a ceremonial sword, shaped like a reflex bow and therefore impossible to draw from its sheath, would have only been found in a male royal’s tomb. There’s even a pair of shoe soles, made of bronze and gilded.
The Trappings of Royalty
The centerpiece of the first gallery is a crown belonging to a queen—but we don’t know which one.
“There was an official history of the Silla kingdom, one written in the 11th century, one in the 12th century,” said Asian art curator Denise Leidy, who co-curated the exhibition with Lee.
“They had names of rulers and dates but [scholars have had] a hard time matching up a specific ruler with a specific tomb...The first mentions of Silla were in Chinese historical sources—they wrote about these people who like glass beads and gold.”
The crown’s basic structure is a simple band that goes around the head—tall gold branches or antlers sprout from it; gold pieces dangle from it like long clusters of wisterias, connected by large barrel beads, also of gold.
Curiously shaped jade ornaments are attached by wire all over the piece—and not just this on this one, but on several other jewelry items. Peoples speculate what they are meant to be—a simplified dragon, an embryo, a comma...a cashew?
“Nobody knows what it is,” Lee said. “There are very few written records surviving from this period but they are mostly on the crowns and on some of the jewelry. It seems to me that it has to do with power and authority because it comes out of mostly royal tombs.”
The shape appears before the Silla period but as jade personal adornment, it is “very much a Silla phenomenon,” Lee said.
With the exception of this unique feature, the crown reminds Leidy of another from a 2009 Afghanistan exhibition she worked on. Leidy generated the idea for the current exhibit in 2008 when she visited Gyeongju National Museum.
To Leidy, the fact that the crown comes with a matching belt (it is equally stunning, with pendants hanging from it at varying lengths), and that Silla interred their dead in mounds, reveal the influence of Eurasian nomadic cultures.
“What you find in these tombs is echoes of the nomadic world,” she said. “There were all these tribes in Central Asia moving back and forth. We think that some of these horse-riding people started moving into Korea and ended up way, way south in Gyeongju and helped to spur the flowering of that kingdom around A.D. 400.”
Influences From Afar
The first part of the exhibit wows us with Silla’s wealth and the second part puts it all into context.
Silla was a far east destination of international trade along the silk road. From royal tombs, archaeologists have found Roman glass cups and bowls, glazed Chinese pottery and zodiac animal motifs, as evidenced by a stone monkey (bipedal and armored) which once protected a king’s tomb. It would have been accompanied by the other 11 animals from the Chinese zodiac, which appeared in in Korean imagery by the seventh century.
Roman glass was prized as a luxury item. On display are several examples of Roman cups in varying shades of blue, green, and brown.
Another example of Roman influence appears in the jewelry. One early fifth century necklace uses what is known as a “Roman chain” formed by connecting small rings, a technique thought to have originated in the Mediterranean.
A fifth century garnet and glass-inlaid dagger and sheath is identified as coming from the Black Sea area because of its cloisonné technique, which originated in the Byzantine Empire.
Buddhism’s Arrival
Arguably the most important import from faraway lands was Buddhism, officially adopted as the national religion in 527.
In the last part of the exhibit, Silla’s fascination with gold is funneled into the production of Buddhist statues and reliquaries. The form of Buddhism embraced in Korea, like that practiced in China, is polytheistic and honors Maitreya, Bodhisattvas, Buddha Amitabha, and Buddha of Medicine in addition to Buddhism’s founder Shakyamuni.
The sculptural style seen in early Korean statues is reminiscent of Chinese forms, with rounded faces and bodies. Later examples would feature more articulated figures and thinner drapery.
The highlight of the exhibit is Bodhisattva in a pensive pose, popularly known in Korea as National Treasure 83. While the pose, with one ankle resting on the knee of the other leg, originates from early Indian Buddhist imagery, this Bodhisattva is conspicuously unadorned.
Its crown is unlike any recognizable to those familiar with Chinese Buddhist imagery. Unlike the elaborate jeweled headpieces common on Chinese Bodhisattva statues, this one has three simple flaps. This and the lack of beaded jewelry leaves the viewer to appreciate the statue’s fluid lines and sense of serenity.
Do not miss the 4-minute video that illustrates the construction of the Seokguram Grotto, a small but awe-inspiring mountaintop temple. Built around a central Buddha statue, Seokguram Grotto consists of hundreds of precisely cut stone pieces held together by rivets and took 23 years to complete.
Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom
Nov. 4–Feb. 23, 2014
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
212-535-7710
www.metmuseum.org
Suggested admission $12–$25
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