Artwork Page for Amitabha

Details / Information for Amitabha

Amitabha

阿彌陀佛

mid-1000s

China, Yunnan province, Dali kingdom

(938–1253)
Medium
gilt bronze
Measurements
Overall: 23 cm (9 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1942.1082
Public Domain
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Location
241C Chinese Buddhist Sculptures
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Did You Know?

This gilt bronze Buddha is similar in style to another rare piece in the Shanghai Museum, which bears an inscription dating it to 1043, the second year of the Shengming reign of the Dali kingdom.

Description

This delicately crafted statue of Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, bears testimony to the flowering of Buddhist art under the Liao Empire established by the Khitans, a nomadic Mongolian people, after the Tang persecution of Buddhists in 845.

The Liao rulers were devout Buddhists who commissioned substantial religious projects. Liao Buddhist artifacts reflecting close ties to the Tang traditions were likely executed by displaced or enslaved artisans as a result of the Khitan conquest of northern China.
A gilt bronze sculpture depicts a seated Amitabha, a deity with long ears, downcast eyes, and dark hair with rows of small curls topped with a rounded protrusion. He sits cross-legged with hands in his lap, palms up and thumbs touching. He wears a robe draped over his left shoulder, leaving his right arm bare. Flakes of the gilding have worn away to reveal the dark bronze underneath on his face, torso, and legs.

Amitabha

mid-1000s

China, Yunnan province, Dali kingdom (938–1253)

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