Crowned Buddha Seated in a Niche
Asian Art
On View: Asian Galleries, Southwest, 2nd floor
This Buddha figure makes the gesture of teaching. Buddhist law, known as dharma, is symbolized by a spoked wheel; when a teacher makes a wheel shape with his fingers and touches it with his other hand, he “turns the wheel of the law,” thereby dispersing the truth. This bejeweled figure might be read as the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, who is said to wear a crown when he preaches in the heavens, or it could be Vairochana, a celestial Buddha who is often represented making the teaching gesture.
MEDIUM
Schist
DATES
9th-10th century
PERIOD
Pala Period
DIMENSIONS
22 7/16 × 13 3/16 × 2 3/4 in., 87 lb. (57 × 33.5 × 7 cm, 39.46kg)
mount (with object): 22 1/2 × 15 × 4 3/4 in. (57.2 × 38.1 × 12.1 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Asian Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
27.67
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Frederic B. Pratt
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in Asian Galleries, Southwest, 2nd floor
CAPTION
Crowned Buddha Seated in a Niche, 9th-10th century. Schist, 22 7/16 × 13 3/16 × 2 3/4 in., 87 lb. (57 × 33.5 × 7 cm, 39.46kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Frederic B. Pratt, 27.67. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 27.67_acetate_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 27.67_acetate_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
