Jōchō
Japanese sculptor. died 1057 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jōchō (定朝; died 1057 AD), also known as Jōchō Busshi, was a Japanese sculptor of the Heian period. He popularized the yosegi technique of sculpting a single figure out of many pieces of wood, and he redefined the canon of body proportions used to create Buddhist imagery.[1] His style spread across Japan and defined Japanese sculpture for the next 150 years. Today, art historians cite Jōchō as "the first of a new kind of master sculptor"[2] and "one of the most innovative artists Japan has ever produced."[3]