Buddha Shakyamuni or the Jina Buddha Vairochana

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Buddha Shakyamuni or the Jina Buddha Vairochana

India, Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir region, circa 725-750

Sculpture

Brass inlaid with silver

16 x 8 1/2 x 3 5/8 in. (40.64 x 21.59 x 9.2 cm)

From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.69.13.5)

South and Southeast Asian Art

Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

...

The historical Buddha Shakyamuni, traditionally dated to 563–483 BCE, or the transcendent Jina Buddha Vairochana in Akanishta Heaven, is represented in this elegant Kashmiri image. Both Buddhas hold their hands in the gesture of Turning the Wheel of the Law (dharmachakra mudra) and both sit with their feet being crossed in meditation (dhyana asana). The Buddha has the cranial protuberance (ushnisha) emblematic of his omniscience, the circular forehead marking (urna) indicating his enlightenment, and elongated earlobes symbolizing his renunciation of the material world. He wears a pleated robe over one shoulder. A small lug at the base of his neck indicates that he once had a separately cast nimbus. He sits on a lion throne associated with royal imagery that emphasizes his spiritual sovereignty. A demigod (yaksha) supports the throne in the front. He is flanked by two rearing griffins. The back corners of the throne each have a column rising out of a pot with a flaring capital. A pierced foliate panel supports the middle of the throne in the rear.

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Bibliography

El Universo de la India: Obras Maestras del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, 2012.
The Art Museum. London: Phaidon Press, 2011.

El Universo de la India: Obras Maestras del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, 2012.
The Art Museum. London: Phaidon Press, 2011.
Little, Stephen, Tushara Bindu Gude, Karina Romero Blanco, Silvia Seligson, Marco Antonio Karam. Las Huellas de Buda. Ciudad de México : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.
Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
Pal, Pratapaditya; R. Brown; R. Fisher; G. Kuwayama; Amy G. Poster. Light of Asia: Buddha Sakyamuni in Asian Art. ed. Dean, Lynne. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984.
Pal, Pratapaditya; Dehejia, Vidya; Slusser, Mary Shepherd; Fisher, Robert E.; Brown, Robert L. Arts of Asia 15 (6): 68-125 (November- December 1985).
Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Sculpture, vol.2. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1988.
Reedy, Chandra L. Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style and Choices. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997.

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