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Torso of a Standing Buddha

Asian Art

Buddha images of the Gupta period handsomely blend characteristics of naturalism with iconography such as a clinging garment or a standing posture with a slightly bent right knee. This particular example is the product of a school at Sarnath that developed a spiritually reflective sculptural style with smooth, subtle modeling. This style gradually became the most influential model both within India and beyond.

The naturalistic rendering of this figure and the monastic robe conceived as a diaphanous cloth covering both shoulders with smooth, clinging drapery are typical of figures from a fifth-century Buddhist monastery at Sarnath, site of the Buddha Sakyamuni's first sermon.

MEDIUM Red sandstone
DATES 5th century
PERIOD Gupta Period
DIMENSIONS 16 x 10 x 4 1/2 in. (40.6 x 25.4 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Asian Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 86.227.47
CREDIT LINE Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Torso of a Standing Buddha, 5th century. Red sandstone, 16 x 10 x 4 1/2 in. (40.6 x 25.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.227.47. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.227.47_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 86.227.47_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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