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Head of a Bodhisattva

ca. early 8th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 206
This head belonged to an attendant bodhisattva that was carved into the back wall of Cave 21 at Tianlongshan, a small complex consisting of twenty-four cave shrines and a wooden temple, located about twenty-five miles southwest of Taiyuan, in Shanxi province. Construction of Tianlongshan’s cave shrines began in the six century and continued until the early eighth century, and it was sponsored throughout by the imperial families of the Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, and Tang dynasties.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 唐 彩繪石雕菩薩頭像
  • Title: Head of a Bodhisattva
  • Period: Tang dynasty (618–907)
  • Date: ca. early 8th century
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Sandstone with pigment
  • Dimensions: H. 15 3/4 in. (40 cm); W. 8 in. (20.3 cm); D. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 1942
  • Object Number: 42.25.12
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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