Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 19. (Budapest, 2000)
Ildikó NAGY: Copies of Murals from Anak Tomb No. 3 in the Korean Collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts
shape have become covered with vegetation. The ceilings of the tombs were constructed using different methods. The most frequently used ceiling types 12 were: a) flat ceilings constructed from stone slabs (Kor. p 'yong-ch 'onjong); b) domed ceilings with vault imitation (Kor. kungryungch 'onjong); c) the so-called lantern ceiling in the shape of pyramids (Kor. malgak jojong), being the dominant covering structure from the Middle Period of Koguryo burial architecture onwards. The lantern ceiling construction having derived from the Near East reached the Korean Peninsula in the 3 century through Central Asia and with Chinese mediation. When investigating the frontal interception of the tombs with murals, experts differentiate different types of tombs according to the level of the floor compared to the surface of the earth. According to this comparison the following types exist: a) tomb chambers lying partly under the surface of the earth (typical of the Early Period); b) tomb chambers built over the surface of the earth (belonging to the Middle and Late Periods); c) tombs where chambers are situated on both levels. Koguryo tombs with murals are divided into three periods: Early Period (from the middle of the 4 th century to the middle of the 5 th century), Middle Period (from the middle of the 5 n century to the middle of the 6 th century) and Later Period (2 nd half of the 6 th century and 1 st half of the 7 th century). This periodization is based on the structural, thematical and technical changes noticed by the experts during the excavations so it can be traced in nearly every aspect discussed in this article. KOGURYO TOMB MURALS The murals were painted on the moistened plaster so that first the contours were sketched in black ink and the outlined figures were coloured later. There existed another method according to which first a sketch was drawn using a piece of charcoal or the outlines were pierced using a pin before painting the contours in ink. It is possible that in outlining the round lotus flower motif first a roundish contour was drawn and this circle was proportionally divided according to the number of the petals. According to the present state of the murals it cannot be known for sure if there had been any conventional rules in the original method of pattern modelling. The fact that can be stated explicitly is that the landscapes, genre scenes, the architectural columns (Kor. gidung), the arabesque and other decorations (Kor. phungyong-hwa, inmul-hwa, dangcho-mun) were drawn without using a stencil. Black, yellow, red, purple, blue and green colours 13 were generally used for colouring but sometimes even gold was applied. The paints were of mineral origin. Green was obtained from malachite containing copper, blue was obtained from the yellowish-white veined blue lapis lazuli (semi-precious stone), vermilion was obtained from the scarlet coloured cinnabarite with mercury ore and diamond shine or from ochre containing red iron ore or from hematite. In spite of the fading and dirtcovered state of the colours through the ages, i.e. in consequence of these changes they attained a brownish tone, now they are in proper harmony with the usually dark circumstances in the tomb chambers separated from the outer world. The Koguryo murals are enlisted into three main thematical groups 14 : a) the epic or genre paintings representing scenes from the life of the deceased (e.g. Tongsu's Tomb); b) the tombs decorated with the Four Divine Animals; c) murals combining different decorative motifs, e.g. floral motifs (Kor. ch'ohwamun). Tree of Life representations (Kor. sumok), different animals, mythical beings, guardians, and the rep-
