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Ascetic Holding a Skull

c. 500 CE
(386-534)
gilt bronze
Overall: 19.4 cm (7 5/8 in.); Figure: 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1980.25
Location: 241C Chinese Buddhist Sculptures
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

This grimacing figure has a potbelly protruding between the hem of his short jacket and fringed skirt (dhoti).

Description

The figure holding the skull has been identified as Mrgasirsa, who sought Buddha’s teaching on how to determine the karma and transmigration of the arhats. Mrgasirsa appears with Vasistha in some of the wall paintings of the Mogao grottoes in Dunhuang.
Ascetic Holding a Skull

Ascetic Holding a Skull

c. 500 CE

China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)

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