Seated Dipankara Buddha with Flaming Shoulders
China (Xinjiang Autonomous Region)
Not on view
In a past birth Shakyamuni met the Buddha Dipankara and vowed to pursue the path to Buddhahood. By the fourth century Dipankara Buddhas represented with flaming shoulders began to appear in the sculpture of Gandhara and Afghanistan and in Chinese bronzes. This seated Buddha was likely part of a mandorla.