美国大都会艺术博物馆藏龙门北魏《皇帝礼佛图》考辨

A Discussion of The Carvings of ‘Emperor’s Worshipping Buddha’ (Huángdì Lǐfó Tú)from Longmen Grottoes of the Northern Wei Dynasty in The Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA

美国大都会艺术博物馆陈列的北魏《皇帝礼佛图》浮雕,原属龙门石窟宾阳中洞,是宣武帝为其父孝文帝祈福开凿。研究者对于该浮雕被盗凿、修复现状以及真伪问题曾有不同看法。本文通过实物考察,对比浮雕被盗之前照片、拓片和目前窟壁凿痕,追踪大都会当年经手人研究轨迹,考证出该件文物大致修复时间和现在展示中对原浮雕位置布局的改动,指出展品的修复痕迹及多处错误,同时阐明该文物在中国佛教史和雕塑史中的重要地位。

The Carvings of ‘Emperor’s Worshipping Buddha’(Huángdì Lǐfó Tú ) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art of USA was born in the Longmen Grotte centrale Binyang, which was ordered to produce by Emperor Xuanwu( 宣武帝 ) for blessings to his father Emperor Xiaowen( 孝文帝 ). As for the controversial issues regarding the carvings’ being robbed, restored as well as its authenticity, the author analyzes the approximate date when the carving was restored, points out the improper rearrangement compared with the original scene by a textual research of the illustrated carving on display, the photographs and rubbings before and after it was robbed away, the cutting marks left in the dent on the grotto wall and academic achievements by those who were involved in the incident in this paper. What’s analyzed above suggests this carving should have a high place in the history of Buddhism in China and the history of Chinese sculpture as well.