Art

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

Head of the Buddha

This large, impressive head comes from the Buddhist cave temples at the “Mountain of Echoing Halls” in northern China. Around the year 550, seeking to perform meritorious deeds, Qi-dynasty rulers had a number of caves hewn out of limestone cliffs and then lavishly decorated with sculptures. The Southern Cave contained statues of three large Buddhas and their attendants. In their original location, the seated figures gazed down on devotees from a height of well over 3 metres.