《番王礼佛图》创作年代考

Dating the Painting of Barbarian Royalty Worshiping the Buddha

现藏于美国克利夫兰艺术博物馆的《番王礼佛图》,被该馆认定为10世纪赵光辅之作,亦有学者认为此卷是宋元人摹品。由于画家赵光辅生卒年不详,诸家考证虽各据其理,方法却以旁证考释为多,因而举证牵强。本文自《钦定秘殿珠林石渠宝笈续编》定名《蛮王礼佛图》入手,尝试厘清宋代中央政府与少数民族政权的关系,继而以这种关系流布于文化、习俗层面的特色现象为依据,爬梳赵光辅与宋和西夏的渊源,论证该作品的创作时间为公元1033-1038年之间,并由此提出佛教艺术造像中的"西夏范式"。

The Painting of Barbarian Royalty Worshiping the Buddha, which is now collected in Cleveland Museum of Art, was once officially identified as the work of Zhao Guangfu of the 10th century. Some scholars, however, believe that the painting is a copy of the original one from Song or Yuan dynasty. Lacking the knowledge of Zhao Guangfu’s birth and death date, all researches are based on indirect evidences, rendering the proof unreliable, even though they all have their own merits. This article dives into the subject from the naming of the painting on the basis of the history of Song-minority relations and the special phenomenon that were built on the culture and customs. As the result, this article argues that the painting was created in the 11th century(from 1033 to 1038, to be precise), and therefore proposes a new form in the Buddhist art: The Western Xia Paradigm.