Korea Gives it's Iron Buddha New Status Because of NYC's Met Exhibition

KOREA HERALD
By Lee Sun-young

Iron seated Buddha (National Museum of Korea)

KOREA---The National Museum of Korea’s revamped Unified Silla section, which opens to the public Tuesday, displays an undisputed new star: a larger-than-life Buddha statue made of cast iron. Placed in a spacious room right in the middle of the hall, the statue overwhelms visitors with its mystic beauty and half-smile. The exquisiteness of this artifact, which dates back to the late eighth or early ninth century, however, went unnoticed until recently. The high level of interest in the statue in the Met exhibition prompted Seoul officials to take a fresh look at it. Previously it was just one of the many Buddha statues exhibited in the Buddhist art section on the third floor of the National Museum of Korea. [link]