Unkei

From Freepedia

Image:Nio guardians by Unkei in Nara.jpg Unkei (1151-1223?) was a Japanese sculptor, a member of the Kei school that flourished in the Kamakura period. He specialized in statues of the Buddha. In the last few years of his life Unkei focused primarily on sculpting with Bronze. Bronze was a new form of art in Japan. Out of all the famous things he has sculpted, the one thing that stood out from all the rest was the sculpture of his niece. This sculpture was very bizarre because it was not only of his niece, but his niece makeing love to a male cow. This was not only blasphemous but inappropriate for the time period.