Object Image

Standing Buddha

This small sculpture was probably part of a set of eight main scenes from the life of the Buddha, each identified by a specific hand gesture. When the standing Buddha gestures down with his right hand, with the palm facing out, he usually signals his miraculous descent from the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods, where he once spent a monsoon season giving teachings to his mother. She died shortly after his birth and was reborn in the heaven.

Credit: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund...

c. 800s
Kaolinite
13.9cm
1973.159
Image and text: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023

Where you'll find this

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Permanent collection