Title: Manjushri
Location: Undiscovered
Culture: Buddhism
Medium: Gilt Bronze
Dimensions: Height: 23 in, Width: 14 3/4 in, Length: 10 1/2 in.
Repository: Dallas Museum of Art
Image Description: Sitting atop a lotus pedestal, this figurine depicts the Buddhist deity of wisdom and teaching, Manjushri. The figurine is made of gilt bronze, giving it a shiny, golden, and glamorous appearance. Here, Manjushri is sculpted to be sitting down with his legs crossed. Covering the majority of Manjushri’s body, not including the feet, head, and hands, is a draped robe which is made out to have finely detailed patterns aligning its edge. Manjushri is posed with his hands in an active position, specifically, a position of teaching. Furthermore, he is using his hands to demonstrate how to thread string through beads. This rendition of the deity of wisdom has lots of jewelry, including earrings, a necklace, a headdress, a bejeweled belt, and most notably an elaborate, halo-like ring surrounding his head. Hanging off both sides of the ring are two lotus flowers. Specifically, these lotus flowers each hang over one of Manjushri’s shoulders and carry significant objects including his flaming sword of wisdom and his scriptures to teach with. It is important to note that the symmetrical appearance of the scripture and sword suggest that although the two objects have different uses, they both serve the same purpose of breaking ignorance with wisdom.
References:
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/manjushri/HQHY4_RefrsqAg?hl=en
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