Artwork Page for Vajrapani

Details / Information for Vajrapani

Vajrapani

700s

India, Kashmir

Medium
bronze with silver overlay and gum tempera
Measurements
Overall: 22 cm (8 11/16 in.); Base: 12.8 cm (5 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1971.14
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

A hole on the back once held a halo behind his head.

Description

The name Vajrapani means “he who holds (pani) the thunderbolt (vajra)” in Sanskrit. Adopted by Buddhists as a protector not only in India and the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet, Vajrapani also was incorporated into art of China, Korea, and Japan. The attributes of the thunderbolt and the club were derived from images of Zeus and Hercules that travelers from the Mediterranean world brought to the region as early as the 320s BC.

This rare, early bronze image of Vajrapani visually conveys his power to overcome fear and obstacles to enlightenment, and for this reason he is invoked by Buddhist practitioners. He sits on a pedestal in the form of a rocky mountain populated with wild lions, and he has tamed poisonous snakes to use as ornaments.
A bronze sculpture with silver overlay depicts Vajrapani, a deity seated on a rectangular stepped base. He faces forward with wide, silver-inlaid eyes, a furrowed brow, and upward-rising orange-red hair. He holds a scepter in his raised right hand and a bell in his left. His right leg hangs down while his left is bent. He has a rounded belly, wears jewelry, and two small lions sit within the base.

Vajrapani

700s

India, Kashmir

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