Artwork Page for Standing Bodhisattva

Details / Information for Standing Bodhisattva

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
Public Domain
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Location
236 Korean
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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.
Gilt wood sculpture of a standing deity with long ears and smooth, dark hair appearing like a cap over their head. They wear flowing robes, holding their left hand down, palm facing in and fingers broken off except the thumb. They hold their right hand in front of them, middle finger curving in towards thumb. Flakes of the gilding have worn away to reveal the dark brown wood underneath, particularly on the deity's right hand.

Standing Bodhisattva

1500s

Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)

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