Tempyō style

Tempyō style, Japanese sculptural style of the Late Nara period (724–794), greatly influenced by the Chinese Imperial style of the T’ang dynasty (618–907). During this prolific era, many of the supreme sculptural achievements of Japanese Buddhist art were created in unbaked clay, solid wood, and especially lacquered cloth molded on a removable core or wooden armature (a technique called dry lacquer, or kanshitsu [q.v.]).

The Tempyō style is characterized by a closer fusion of parts into a unified whole than is found in works of the Early Nara period. Forms flow into one another and drapery is integrated with the structure of the body in a more naturalistic way, giving a sense of activity and realistic observation. The lacquer and clay sculpture shows beautiful modelling of hands and face. Because the wooden armature used in sculpture executed in these techniques imposed a vertical balance and a certain rigidity of pose, the artist was driven to concentrate on facial expression. The new realism is especially notable in the development of portrait sculpture. The period was also notable for multiple-armed and many-headed images, literal iconographical portrayals of the esoteric Buddhist doctrines that were to gain popularity in the 9th century.