- Title: Schist head of the fasting Buddha
- Date Created: 100/299
- Dimensions: Height: 22.30cm; Width: 12.70cm; Diameter: 18.50cm; Weight: 7.00kg (estimated weight)
- Technique: carved
- Production place: Made in Gandhara
- Culture: Kushan
- Material: schist
- Repository: British Museum (London, England)
The sculpture shows a deprived Buddha, who is fasting in the search of enlightenment. The Buddha left his place to go out and seek the way of this world and tried to find the solution for its inevitable suffering. The sculpture used the moment when buddha was close to death, which is extremely different from other subjects describing Buddha. The object does a fascinating job to capture settings such as Buddha’s eyes were being gorged into his sockets, his sunken cheeks, and long lobes of the ears, which all stating that Buddha is different from ordinary people. Additionally, unlike other Buddha sculptures, the clean-shaven face of this one shows an emaciated Bodhisattvas, who is Shakyamuni before he obtained ultimate enlightenment. This object captures the memorial moment when Buddha realized that the nature of the world and the answers that he was searching for.
Sources
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/schist-head-of-the-fasting-buddha/qgGDDQq1b7GZkA
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1907-1228-1
