The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Square, gilt copper plate with three people softly hammered out from the back of the sheet. Center, the Medicine Buddha, sits cross-legged on a lotus-shaped pedestal, flanked by two standing people. They wear clothes draped around them in many folds and have halos behind their heads. The flanking people face the Buddha, hands pressed together in front of their chests. The Buddha cradles a small object in his left palm. Spirals wind above their heads.

Plaque with the Image of Medicine Buddha Triad

676–935

Korea, Unified Silla period

(676-935)
embossed copper plate covered with gold leaf
Overall: 11.5 x 11 cm (4 1/2 x 4 5/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1987.59
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The plate was created by hammering softly from the back of the metal sheet. This technique is called repoussé.

Description

This plate features an embossed image of the Medicine Buddha flanked by two attendants. The Medicine Buddha, a doctor who cures aliments with Buddhist teachings, is usually represented holding a bowl of medicine in the palm of one hand.
  • 1977–1987
    (John Eskenazi, London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    August 19, 1987–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1987.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 2 (1988): 30–71. Mentioned: no. 194, p. 71 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 36 no. 09, November 1996 Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 9 archive.org
    Lee, So-young, and Denise Patry Leidy. Silla: Korea's Golden Kingdom. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013.
    Nelson, Sarah. Gyeongju: The Capital of Golden Silla. London/New York: Routledge, 2019.
  • The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Plaque with the Image of Medicine Buddha Triad|url=false|author=|year=676–935|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.59