This classic Central Javanese sculpture of a Buddha likely represents the transcendental Jina Buddha Vairochana (Intensely Luminescent One), although it is alternatively possible that it portrays the historical Buddha Shakyamuni (traditionally dated to 563–483 BCE). Vairochana, symbolizing the totality of all Buddhas, is preeminent among the five Jina (Victor) Buddhas who demonstrate the state and qualities of Buddhahood. In addition to Vairochana, they are Akshobya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi.
The Buddha is seated in the meditation posture (padma asana) and wears a monastic robe covering his left shoulder. His hands are held in the gesture of the ‘turning of the wheel of the law’ (dharmachakrapravartana mudra).
The artistic style and medium of volcanic stone suggest this Buddha image was made for a religious monument in Central Java in circa 825-850, such as the renowned Borobudur Temple in the form of a mandala created in circa 778-850 during the Shailendra Dynasty (760–860). Rediscovered in 1814 during the administration of Sir Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), Governor of the Dutch East Indies (1811-1816), Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Originally 504 Buddha statues and 2,672 narrative relief panels adorned the monument.
A comparable Central Javanese sculpture of a Buddha, albeit representing Amitabha, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1995.256). See also M.79.20.