Sakyamuni Buddha
Artist
Unknown
Datelate 1st–early 2nd century
(not assigned)North india, Asia
Mediummottled red sandstone
Dimensions52.5 x 60 x 18 cm (20 11/16 x 23 5/8 x 7 1/16 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineAlexander H. Bullock Fund in honor of Elizabeth de Sabato Swinton
Terms
Object number1985.240
DescriptionOne of the earliest images of Buddha, this figure derives from the indigenous Indian artistic tradition as opposed to the Greco-Roman tradition of Gandhara. Originally conceived as a deeply carved relief on a stele (slab), the Buddha was seated in a lotus position on a throne flanked by attendants, with a scalloped halo and the foliage of the tree of wisdom (bodhi) behind him. In this fragment the right arm is raised in the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra), the hand of the missing left arm would have rested on his folded legs.This figure successfully integrates the robust imagery of early Indian art with the more realistic conception that characterized the new Kushan style. By creating a sense of volume—the round face and the swelling breast and stomach—the sculptor was able to infuse life into the stone. Unlike the Gandharan Buddha type, the body shows through the diaphanous monk’s robe in this image. The right shoulder is left bare and the drapery is pleated in fine regular folds over the left arm. The large open eyes are also characteristic of the Mathura style. A few leaves of the bodhi tree can be seen behind the Buddha’s right arm. Made from the mottled red sandstone from the local Sikri quarries near Mathura, the stele has no carving on the back.
Already present in this early image are some of the characteristics which became codified as the thirty-two signs of a Buddha: the urna, a whorl of hair between the eyebrows; long ears; palms marked with the wheel of the Buddhist law; and the halo, a symbol of his divine radiance.
Label TextThe image of Shakyamuni- the historical personage called the Buddha, or Enlightened One, who lived in India in the sixth century B.C.Ñ made its first appearance in art in the late first century A.D. This fragment of a well-known Buddha image- characterized by a coiled topknot on the head- was produced early in the reign of Kanishka, the third ruler of the Kushan dynasty, and belongs to the type created in the Mathura region of North India. Typical attributes of Buddha figures in this period are a monastic robe, long ears, a cranial bump, a round mark between the eyes, a halo, and the right hand raised in the gesture of reassurance. Carved in relief on the slab behind the deity's right arm are leaves of the Tree of Wisdom (bodhi), under which the historical Buddha attained enlightenment. This figure of Shakyamuni, originally seated cross-legged in the lotus position, radiates a spirituality and repose that is entirely appropriate to the Buddha. The soft, tactile surfaces of the flesh and the warm, mottled sandstone create a sensuous and compelling image.ProvenanceWilliam H. Wolff, Inc., N.Y.
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