Title: Gautama Buddha
Date: 14th century
Artist: Unknown (created in Central Tibet)
Medium/Material: Gilded Copper with pigment
Description: There are many distinctive visual feature on this sculpture of the Buddha. To start, the classic sitting position we all picture of the Buddha having his legs crossed and one hand resting on his leg with the other centered on his chest. It is known as the earth pose, which connects the Buddha and the ground as he is to reach enlightenment. It gives the feeling of searching for inner peace or enlightenment. Another aspect of this sculpture that stood out to me was the fact it is gold colored because in Buddhism I believe they try to steer away from material wealth and focus on more of the personal one. It seems odd they would choose to represent the Buddha in such a “expensive” look. There is also is the depiction of elongated earlobes, which I had noticed in many of the other pieces as I was scrolling though. His face seems to be very relaxed and there isn’t much emotion shown. His hair is almost always represented in an up-do or bun. It seems to have the only bit of color, being a deep violet color.
Sources: https://asia.si.edu/object/S1997.28/
