This painting on linen is a fantastically powerful, almost florid vision of a fierce being flamboyantly dressed in red and black, warning off any intruders to a Buddhist temple. You can see how, in earlier centuries, Korea’s art creatively mixed with Buddhist styles from its neighbours China and Japan. Yet the tough Guardian-King is playing a lute, its gentle harmonies suggesting his softer side. Korea’s traditional art is supremely spiritual and civilised, expressing Buddhist values in symmetrical, ethereal ceramics and gilded manuscripts as well as this characterful image.

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