Seated Buddha

Expand

IIIFView PDF

Seated Buddha

Place of OriginCentral Tibet

Dateabout 1450

Dimensions15 1/4 × 11 7/8 × 8 1/4 in. (38.7 × 30.2 × 21 cm)

Mediumgilded bronze with lapis and turquoise inlays

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society

Object number

1989.4

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 35

Label TextThough stylistically indebted to the art of India, this Tibetan gilt bronze image of Buddha is, like Tibetan Buddhist art in general, richer in detail and materials and smaller in scale. Dressed in monastic clothing, the Buddha sits in the lotus position, his left hand on his lap, palm facing up, in a position called the dhyana mudra, a gesture of meditation. His right hand is in the bhumisparsa mudra, in which Buddha extends his hand to touch the earth. The position represents when the prince who became Buddha resisted the temptations of the demon Mara and called upon the earth to witness his victory. Soon after this momentous event, the prince was able to reach spiritual enlightenment, becoming Buddha (the Enlightened One).Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 31, repr. (col.).Exhibition HistoryToledo, Toledo Museum of Art, A Decade of Giving: The Apollo Society at the Toledo Museum of Art, 1996, p. 8, repr. (col.).

Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, Inspired Giving: The Apollo Society 25th Anniversary Exhibition, October 15, 2010-February 13, 2011, p. 12, repr. (col.) p. 12.

Toledo Museum of Art, Luminous Visions: Phillip K. Smith III and Light Across the Collection, October 17, 2020-April 4, 2021.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Pal, Pratapaditya, Art of Tibet, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1983.

See also Singh, Madanjeet, Himalayan Art, Greenwich, Connecticut, New York Graphic Society, 1968.