Buddha Shakyamuni Reclining

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Buddha Shakyamuni Reclining

Sri Lanka, Kandy period, 18th century
Sculpture
Wood with paint
14 1/2 × 37 3/4 × 6 5/8 in. (36.83 × 95.89 × 16.83 cm)
Purchased with funds provided by Anna Bing Arnold (M.80.189)
South and Southeast Asian Art
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

...
This image of Buddha Shakyamuni reclining on his side with his head supported by his right hand portrays the period before his final enlightenment (mahaparinirvana) when he died in Kushinagara in India. Rather than being shown with his eyes closed as if near death, his open eyes and raised head indicate that he is awake and likely giving his final discourse to his disciples. He has the Buddha’s standard snail curl hair and elongated earlobes, symbolic of his renunciation of his princely life when he wore long hair and heavy golden ear ornaments. In place of his customary cranial protuberance representing his omniscience (ushnisha), he has a five-tongued flame with curled tips common to later Sri Lankan Buddha images. He wears a monastic robe with symmetrical plates over one shoulder with a stylized hem flap hanging down across his chest. The Buddha’s bed, aureole, and support cushions are decorated with lotus petals, shell motifs, and other sumptuous textile designs.   See also M.80.58.
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Bibliography

  • Romain, Julie. "Ananda Coomaraswamy and the formation of the Sri Lanka collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Journal of the History of Collections 28 no.3 (2016): 465-478.
  • Einzig, Barbara, ed. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Report, July 1, 1979-June 30, 1981. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1982.
  • Romain, Julie. "Ananda Coomaraswamy and the formation of the Sri Lanka collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Journal of the History of Collections 28 no.3 (2016): 465-478.
  • Einzig, Barbara, ed. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Report, July 1, 1979-June 30, 1981. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1982.
  • 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).
  • Brown, Robert L., Tushara Bindu Gude, Donald Stadtner, and Lakshika Senarath Gamage. The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2018.
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