Art

  • Budai
  • Dharmatala and two lokapalas From a series of 7 thangkas with Buddha Shakyamuni and the 18 arhats
  • Buddhist Votive Tablet
  • The Prophecy of the Wise Asita
  • Head of a Lokeshvara
  • Buddhist Monk
  • Green Tara (Shyama Tara)
  • Monumental Head of a Bodhisattva
  • Head of a Buddha
  • Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Head of the Buddha
  • Ceremonial Dagger Featuring the God of Death
  • Baisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha
  • The Bodhisattva of Compassion as the Bringer of Sons
  • Plaque Showing the Buddha Teaching
  • Buddha Shakyamuni Attains Awakening Under the Bodhi Tree
  • Padmasambhava with his 25 Tibetan Pupils From a series of 7 thangkas
  • Padmasambhava with his 25 Tibetan Pupils From a series of 7 thangkas
  • Great Stupa at Sanchi
  • Machig Labdrön
  • Portrait of the Zen Priest Gemmon Doyu
  • Jizo Bosatsu, Bodhisattva in the Guise of a Monk
  • Travel Shrine
  • Mara’s Daughters Tempt the Buddha
  • Shyamatara, Green Tara
  • Standing Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Hotei, One of the Gods of Good Fortune, with Child
  • Buddha Shakyamuni and the Earth-Touching Gesture
  • Buddha Shakyamuni From a series of 7 thangkas with Buddha Shakyamuni and the 18 arhats
  • Leaving for Homelessness
  • Buddha Maitreya
  • Gazelle
  • The Transcendent Buddha Akshobhya
  • Dakini Vasya-Vajravarahi
  • Amida Nyorai, Buddha of the Western Paradise
  • Seated Bodhisattva
  • The 4th Dalai Lama Yonten Gyatso (1589–1617)
  • Seated Bodhisattva
  • Bodhidharma Crosses the Yangtze River on a Reed
  • Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Empress Jito, from the series “Parody of the Ogura Version of ‘One Hundred Poets, One Hundred Poems’ ”
  • Relief of the Five Transcendent Buddhas
  • Votive Stela Depicting Buddha Shakyamuni
  • The Death of the Buddha
  • Guhyamanjuvajra
  • Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion
  • The Buddha Begins Teaching
  • Buddhist Pocket-sized Prayer Altar
  • Standing Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Half-length Portrait of the Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma
  • Buddha Shakyamuni Tames the Wild Elephant Nalagiri
  • Dharani Sutra of the Heart of the Perfection of Insight
  • Jambhala, the God of Wealth
  • Standing Tara
  • Standing Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Buddha Shakyamuni Sheltered by the Serpent-King
  • Taima Mandala, the Buddha Amida’s Paradise
  • Printing Block for a Prayer from the Text “Embodiment of the Three Jewels” by Jatson Nyingpo (1585–1656)
  • Buddhist Votive Tablet
  • Buddha Shakyamuni with Scenes from his Life
  • Six Persimmons
  • Portrait of the Abbot Ennin
  • Buddha Shakyamuni Invokes the Earth Goddess as his Witness
  • Stela Showing Scenes from the Life of the Buddha
  • Buddha Vairocana
  • Thangka of the Twenty-One Taras
  • Buddhist Votive Stela of the Yan Family
  • The Descent of Buddha Amida
  • Sitatara, White Tara
  • The Layman Huashang and Two Lokapalas From a series of 7 thangkas with Buddha Shakyamuni and the 18 arhats
  • Bodhidharma
  • The Arhats Bakula, Rahula, Cudapanthaka, and Pindola From a series of 7 thangkas with Buddha Shakyamuni and the 18 arhats
  • The Descent of Buddha Amida
  • Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion
  • The Arhats Panthaka, Gopaka, Nagasena, and Abheda From a series of 7 thangkas with Buddha Shakyamuni and the 18 arhats
  • Stupa
  • Shaka Nyorai, the Historical Buddha
  • Buddhist Monastic Rules from the Pali Canon
  • Mahasiddha Virupa
  • Head of a Bodhisattva
  • Vijaya Stupa
  • Gendün Gyatso, the 2nd Dalai Lama (1476–1542)
  • Standing Bodhisattva
  • The Arhats Vanavasin, Angaja, Kalika, and Ajita From a series of 7 thangkas with Buddha Shakyamuni and the 18 arhats
  • Monastic Rules for Monks
  • Yakshi, Nymph with Lotus Flowers, fragment of a baluster
  • The Ascetic Milarepa
  • The Prophecy of the Buddha Dipankara
  • Ushnishavijaya
  • Buddha Dipankara, the Buddha of the Past
  • Buddha Shakyamuni as a Newborn Infant
  • Vajradhara, the Primordial Buddha
  • Large Votive Stupa
  • The Arhats Kanakavasta, Vajriputra, Kanaka Bharadvaja, and Bhadra From a series of 7 thangkas with Buddha Shakyamuni and the 18 arhats
  • Votive Stela with Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Excerpt from the Lotus Sutra
  • Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom
  • Buddha Shakyamuni
  • The Four Excursions
  • Vase with Lotus Vines and the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism
  • Head of the Buddha
  • Zen Priest in a Golden Wrap
  • Pancha Raksha Manuscript
  • The Buddha Invokes the Earth Goddess as his Witness
  • Head of a Monk
  • Standing Buddha
  • Sakya Pandita (1182–1252)
  • Buddha Shakyamuni at the Moment of his Awakening
  • Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion
  • The Four Pleasures of Nan Shenglu (detail)
  • Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Shakyamuni Enters Nirvana
  • Buddha Shakyamuni 
  • State Oracle Garment
  • The Buddha’s Parinirvana
  • Shyamatara, Green Tara
  • Stupa
  • Standing Monk with Hands Folded
  • Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
  • Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion in the Posture of Royal Ease
  • Dharmapala Yama
  • Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Prince Siddhartha’s Wedding
  • Praying Priest
  • Standing Buddha Amida
  • Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, as the Patron of fishermen
  • Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion
  • Bust of a Luohan
  • Hotei
  • Padmasambhava
  • The Bodhisattva of Compassion Sitting in Meditation
  • The Three Buddhas Dipankara, Shakyamuni, and Maitreya
  • Rectangular Coin
  • Female Monkey with Her Young
  • Buddha Shakyamuni
  • Buddha Shakyamuni Meditating Under the Bodhi Tree
Buddha Shakyamuni with Scenes from his Life

Buddha Shakyamuni with Scenes from his Life

Buddha Shakyamuni is seated on a richly adorned throne at the centre of the picture. The gesture he is making refers to the moment of his awakening. Around him his life story is told in numerous scenes. It opens at the top left with his birth and continues anticlockwise; in the lower section we witness his adolescent years, followed at the bottom right by his flight from the palace, and then his awakening to Buddhahood. After several scenes describing his work as a teacher, the story ends at the top right with his death.