Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Bodhisattva Maitreya
Not on view
This figure is from the same hoard as cat. nos. 139, 141, and 142. As expected, the hoard included objects from different sources, ranging in date from the late seventh century to the first half of the ninth. The large eighth-century images form a broadly coherent group, of which the Avakoliteshvara and two Maitreyas stand out as among the most important Southeast Asian bronzes of their age. All the bodhisattvas belong to a Buddhist ascetic tradition. They are completely unadorned, clad in short waistcloths secured with a simple cord. The only ornamentation is the complex binding of the long braids of hair that gives an appearance of richness.
cat. no. 140
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