The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Seated Amitayus Buddha
c. 570s
Location: 241B Arts of Ancient China
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The stringlike folds of the Buddha's draperies emphasize his monumental, rigidly erect torso and tubular limbs.Description
Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life, is seated in meditation on a double lotus pedestal. The pedestal was not made with the statue but the combination is faithful to the original artistic conception. The statue is an extremely rare example of a major type of Northern Qi Buddhist sculpture. The heavy, massive front highlights the sense of monumentality and the spiritual essence of the Buddha.Today the sculpture is united with a pedestal that exhibits the rich, ornate style of early Tang sculpture. It was commissioned by the Duke of Liang, Fang Xuanling (578–648), for the blessing of his second son and daughter-in-law, the Tang imperial princess of Gaoyang. The iconography and inscription suggest that it originally went with a statue, now missing, of Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, instead of Amitayus.
- ?–1915Worcester R. Warner [1846–1929], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1915–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Mentioned and Reproduced: 50 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 63 archive.org
- Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916).
- {{cite web|title=Seated Amitayus Buddha|url=false|author=|year=c. 570s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1915.334.1