Standing Bodhisattva

목조 보살입상 [木造菩薩立像]

1500s

Korea, Joseon dynasty

(1392–1910)

Medium

wood with lacquer and gold, and metal earrings

Measurements

Overall: 48.6 x 15.6 x 18.2 cm (19 1/8 x 6 1/8 x 7 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1997.11

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Location

236 Korean

Did You Know?

This Buddhist statue is missing its crown, which makes it hard to identify what deity it represents.

Description

This work demonstrates the enduring presence of Buddhism and its religious practice during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) even after Neo-Confucianism, a revised form of Confucianism that emphasized self-cultivation as a path to the formation of a harmonious society and state, became the state religion. Because of its missing crown, it is hard to identify what Buddhist deity this statue represents. But there is no doubt it still can be attributed to a bodhisattva (meaning “enlightened being”) for its iconographic attributes: elaborate jewelry and a lock of long hair.