hankyoreh

Considered one of the most beautiful sculptures in Korean art history, the whereabouts of a gilt bronze Buddha from the Baekje Kingdom that was unearthed in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, in 1907 was confirmed in June, for the first time in over 90 years. The figure was one of two originally discovered by a farmer. It was then confiscated and auctioned off in 1922 by Japanese military police to a Japanese collector, who presumably took it to Japan and concealed it from the public eye. The other one was recovered and designated National Treasure No. 293. South Korean experts from the National Museum of Korea and the Cultural Heritage Administration conducted a thorough analysis of the figure, which was made around the seventh century AD, in Tokyo on July 3, concluding that the figure was 100 percent genuine. The above photos show the figure from several different angles.