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Xiwang Kongzhuang Temple: Buddha Triad
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Xiwang Kongzhuang Temple: Buddha Triad
CHINA, Shandong, Qingzhou; Northern Wei dynasty (386–534), dated 525; Commissioned by Jia Zhiyuan and Zhang Paozhu; Stone; H: 224 cm; Shandong Provincial Museum, Jinan, China
The sculpture was excavated in 1918 from Xiwang Kongzhuang Temple. The Buddha stands in the center with the existing hand held downwards in varada (wish-granting) mudra. The two Bodhisattvas are on smaller lotus pedestals. The backscreen is framed at the top by apsaras with trailing stoles. The mandorla contains nine smaller Buddhas and a dragon at the top. The mandorla also encloses the Buddha 's radiating nimbus and the smaller nimbuses of the Bodhisattvas. There are two figures in bas-relief at the bottom offering lotuses.
Smaller images of Buddhas are on the sides and back of the sculpture. An inscription on the base dates the work to 525 and states that Jia Zhiyuan and his wife, Zhang Paozhu, commissioned the work. |
