Collection record · Belief & ritual
Buddha
The collection record classifies this work as sculpture. It is dated 600s. Recorded culture or place: Thailand, probably Shri Thep, Mon-Dvaravati style.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Buddha
- Date
- 600s
- Culture / origin
- Thailand, probably Shri Thep, Mon-Dvaravati style
- Materials and technique
- sandstone
- Dimensions
- Overall: 132.7 cm (52 1/4 in.); without tang: 114.2 cm (44 15/16 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1973.15
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
This elegant, monumental sculpture is the earliest type of Buddha image to be made in Southeast Asia. It comes from a site in north-central Thailand that was part of the Dvaravati kingdom (500s–1200s). The body shows direct links with the sculptural traditions at Sarnath in northern India on the banks of the Ganges River. The expression of the face has the peaceful introspection that became canonical during the Gupta period of the 5th century in India. The shape of the head and facial features—unlike Indian precursors—suggest that the artists and patrons of Dvaravati made the Buddha resemble the local Mon population. The figure's stance has been rendered with remarkable fluidity, and the abstracted caps of the knees and minimalist modeling of the pelvis lend the figure an otherworldly, transcendent demeanor, balanced by the approachable smiling countenance.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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