The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Head of Buddha

Head of Buddha

c. 570

Did You Know?

This colossal Buddha head is from the Northern Xiangtangshan's South Cave, which is shaped like a stupa with a domed roof and a porch in front.

Description

At the Xiangtangshan Buddhist sites in Hebei province, cave-temple construction and image making were supported by the Northern Qi imperial court and nobility. Under the constant shadow of political uncertainty and the theory of the "Law of the Decadence" (or mofa, the deterioration of the True Law after the historical Buddha’s attainment of nirvana), the Buddhist faith was embraced as the ideal for rulership. The Buddha’s smile offers reassurance and consolation.
  • Ho, Wai-Kam. "Three Seated Stone Buddhas." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 53, no. 4 (1966): 84–102. Reproduced: p. 86, fig. 6; Mentioned pp. 86 and 86a www.jstor.org
    Ho, Wai-kam. "Notes on Chinese Sculpture from Northern Ch'i to Sui Part I: Two Seated Stone Buddhas in the Cleveland Museum." Archives of Asian Art 22 (1968): 6–55. Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. 7, p. 11 www.jstor.org
    Nihon Bukkyō bijutsu no genryū [日本仏敎美術の源流 = Sources of Japanese Buddhist Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, Showa 53 [1978]. cat. no. 63
    Nihon Bukkyō bijutsu no genryū [日本仏敎美術の源流 = Sources of Japanese Buddhist Art]. Kyōto: Dohōsha, Shōwa 59 [1984]. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 18
    Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan National Palace Museum. Hai wai yi zhen. fo xiang [外創珎. 佛像= Chinese art in overseas collections. Buddhist sculpture]. Taibei Shi: Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan, 1990. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 62
    Sun, Di 孙迪, editor. Zhongguo liu shi hai wai Fo jiao zao xiang zong he tu mu [中国流失海外佛教造像总合图目= Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Statues in Overseas Collections]. Beijing: Wai wen chu ban she, 2005. vol. 3, p. 476
  • Sources of Japanese Buddhist Art. Nara National Museum, Nara 630, Japan (organizer) (April 29-June 10, 1978).
  • {{cite web|title=Head of Buddha|url=false|author=|year=c. 570|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1923.97