The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2024

Buddha

Buddha

600s
Overall: 132.7 cm (52 1/4 in.); without tang: 114.2 cm (44 15/16 in.)

Did You Know?

Now reunited for display, CMA acquired the sculpture in two pieces, when the feet (CMA 1974.91) and the body were found in separate locations.

Description

This elegant, monumental sculpture is the earliest type of Buddha image to be made in Southeast Asia. It comes from a site in north-central Thailand that was part of the Dvaravati kingdom (500s–1200s). The body shows direct links with the sculptural traditions at Sarnath in northern India on the banks of the Ganges River. The expression of the face has the peaceful introspection that became canonical during the Gupta period of the 5th century in India. The shape of the head and facial features—unlike Indian precursors—suggest that the artists and patrons of Dvaravati made the Buddha resemble the local Mon population. The figure's stance has been rendered with remarkable fluidity, and the abstracted caps of the knees and minimalist modeling of the pelvis lend the figure an otherworldly, transcendent demeanor, balanced by the approachable smiling countenance.
  • ?-1973
    (Spink & Son, Ltd., London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1973-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "The Year in Review for 1973." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 2 (1974): 31-78. Mentioned: no. 173, p. 78; Reproduced: no. 173, p. 63 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 317 archive.org
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 164-165
    Connell, Timothy C., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World Art Transparencies. Cincinnati: West Educational Pub, 1998. Acetate 26
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 103, p. 93, 119
    Czuma, Stanislaw, "Great Acquisitions and Southeast Asian Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art," Orientations (Jan/Feb 2005), vol. 36, no. 1. Reproduced: p. 83
    Chih-hun, Yen. "A Review of the Art of Thailand: Dvaravati." National Palace Museum Bulletin (Papers from the International Workshop on Southeast Asian Arts, April 11-13, 2005). vol. 38 (January 2006). Reproduced: p. 169, fig. 2
    Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. Reproduced: pp. 70-71
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 213–214
    Czuma, Stanislaw J. "A Quest for the Best: The Enduring Legacy of Sherman E. Lee," vol. 40, no. 5, Orientations (Hong Kong, 2009). Reproduced: p. 38, fig. 4
  • Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009).
  • {{cite web|title=Buddha|url=false|author=|year=600s|access-date=25 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.15