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Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

second half of the 7th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 245
This bodhisattva of compassion is represented as an ascetic, dressed in a waistcloth secured with a cord, the details incised into the contours of his torso. He has a flayed antelope skin (ajina) across his left shoulder, an attribute of the earliest representations of this bodhisattva in early seventh-century northern India. The cult of Avalokiteshvara assumed special importance in Mahayana Buddhism during this period. Soon after its development in India, it was shared with Southeast Asian practitioners.

cat. no. 133

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
  • Date: second half of the 7th century
  • Culture: Southern Thailand
  • Medium: Sandstone
  • Dimensions: H. 17 3/4 in. (45.1 cm); W. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm); D. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Ex Coll.: Columbia University, Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1987
  • Object Number: 1987.218.16
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

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Standing Buddha, Stone with traces of color, Thailand
Standing Buddha
Thailand
7th–8th century
Standing Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion, Bronze inlaid with obsidian(?), Northeast Thailand
Standing Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion
Northeast Thailand
8th–early 9th century
Head of a Buddha, Stone, Thailand
Head of a Buddha
Thailand
8th century
Standing Buddha, Bronze with traces of gilt, Thailand (Nakhon Pathom Province)
Standing Buddha
Thailand (Nakhon Pathom Province)
8th–9th century
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, Copper alloy inlaid with silver and glass or obsidian, Plai Bat II Temple, Lahan Sai District, Buriram Province, Thailand
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
Plai Bat II Temple, Lahan Sai District, Buriram Province, Thailand
second quarter of the 8th century

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