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Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva
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Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva
CHINA; Sui dynasty (581–618); Gilt bronze; H: 36 cm; Tokyo National Museum, Japan
A vase is featured at the center of the statue’s elaborate headdress, identifying the figure as Mahasthamaprapta, one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism and the embodiment of wisdom. The statue was listed as an Important Cultural Property in 1979.
The figure’s head is broad, with slender eyes and eyebrows, and the body is gracefully slim. The left hand is bent upwards and may once have held the lotus associated with the Bodhisattva. The right hand holds an edge of the stole that descends the length of the body to below the lotus pedestal. Long ribbons fall in a loop, matched by the beaded ornament that drops from the belt. Other ornaments include the rings at the shoulders that support a complicated neckpiece that ends in a pedant. |
