Head of Buddha

Afghanistan (probably Hadda)

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 236

The well-preserved surface and traces of paint provide an idea of what this head looked like when it was being used in worship. The abstracted treatment of the eyes and the intersecting plains defining forehead, eyebrows, and nose are stylistic features shared with imagery produced in north India during the Gupta period. The fact that this north Indian way of presenting the Buddha had penetrated into Afghanistan suggests a shared Buddhist tradition.

Head of Buddha, Stucco with traces of paint, Afghanistan (probably Hadda)

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Additional view 3 of 6