This sculpture, with its squarish face, elaborate volute of hair, thickset upper torso, and columnar lower body, is characteristic of Jin dynasty temple statues. It probably belonged to a group of images of deities placed on an altar in a Buddhist temple in either Shanxi or Hebei Province, where the non-Chinese Jurchen rulers of the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) had a strong power base.
Originally, the sculpture was painted--the face and the hands with flesh tones, the clothing and scarves with bright colors. It would have been exhibited from a height to enhance the effect of the bodhisattva’s downcast eyes greeting the upward gaze of a viewer. The solemn, introspective face exemplifies the detached mental state associated with enlightenment. A bodhisattva is a being who has achieved this state and decides to remain in the world to help others attain personal salvation and enlightenment.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Buddhist Art (May 9, 1993 to August 9, 2011)
A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980 (November 9, 1979 to May 22, 1980)
