Whether it was a portrait or a sculpture, the chinzo was, for Zen monks, a substitute for the earthly body of the priest, and the chinzo's characteristic is its precise, lifelike depiction.
絵画にしろ彫刻にしろ、頂相は禅僧にとって師の現身そのものであり、師僧の特徴を正確に捉えた、真に迫る造形に特色がある。