Brooklyn Museum: Collections: Asian Art

Bodhisattva Maitreya. Tibet, 13th–14th century. Gilt bronze, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (24.1 x 19.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund, 67.80

This wonderfully preserved image of Maitreya is shown making the Buddhist teaching gesture, in which one hand creates a ring while the other hand touches it, mimicking the turning of a wheel. This gesture refers to the Buddhist metaphor for the Buddha's teachings, in which he is said to have set in motion the Wheel of the Law. The image is identified as Maitreya (Buddha of the Future) by the stupa (relic container) in his headdress and by the lotus at his shoulder.

Attribution of this image to a specific region has proven challenging. It combines stylistic features associated with western Tibetan, Nepalese, and Chinese Buddhist bronzes. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the elite of all three regions practiced Tibetan-style Buddhism, and all employed Nepalese bronze casters to create top-quality icons. Although local tastes differed, the shared artistic heritage of the craftsmen sometimes lent a remarkable similarity to the bronzes of distant regions.

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