Unkei

(born 1148?—died 1223) Japanese sculptor. He established a style of realistic and dynamic Buddhist sculpture that had an immense impact on Japanese art for centuries. Commissioned by the Kamakura shogunate, he made statues for the Kofuku and Todai temples in Nara and is best remembered for the nearly 26-ft (8-m) tall guardian figures at Todai temple's Great South Gate. He later produced many portrait sculptures.

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