A light gray sandstone sculpture of a man sitting cross-legged on a wooden platform. He is wearing a robe and his hair is in a bun on top of his head. His left hand and right arm have been broken off.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The light gray sandstone sculpture is of a man sitting cross-legged on a low wooden platform facing the viewer. He is wearing a robe that is open to show his chest. His hair is in a bun on top of his head and has swirling details. His left arm is bent in front of him. His left hand and right arm have been broken off.

Gallery Text

Inspired by Indian religious practices — and by tales of the Buddha imprinting his shadow on a cave wall — Chinese adherents of Buddhism created elaborate cave temples at sites in north China from the fifth to twelfth centuries. Hewn into limestone or sandstone cliffs, they ranged in size from small grottoes of only a few square feet (which were typically used as private meditation spaces by monks) to massive temples featuring monumental sculptures. Interiors were embellished with murals and sculptures carved from the rock walls. In sponsoring such sites, social elites, including emperors and their families, displayed their piety, as well as their political ambition and power.

The large Seated Buddha and five sculptural reliefs here come from Tianlongshan, near the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi Province. From the sixth through eighth centuries, approximately twenty-five caves were carved into the cliffs there. The caves had relief sculptures on each wall — often a buddha in a niche flanked by bodhisattvas and other devotional figures. Apsarases, angel-like beings that appear in celebration of auspicious events, decorated the ceilings. To increase their sense of lifelike presence and visibility in the dim cave light, they were brightly painted, as evidenced by the traces of pigment found on the Seated Buddha and others of these figures.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.53.22
Title
Seated Buddha (probably Shakyamuni)
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Sakyamuni
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
figure, sculpture
Date
early 8th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China, Shanxi province, Tianlongshan
Period
Tang dynasty, 618-907
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204140

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1610, Buddhist Sculpture, Buddhism and Early East Asian Buddhist Art
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Light gray sandstone with traces of polychromy; from north wall of Tianlongshan Cave 21, near Taiyuan, Shanxi province
Dimensions
H. 109.5 x W. 75 x D. 47 cm (43 1/8 x 29 1/2 x 18 1/2 in.)
Weight 699 lb.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Yamanaka & Co., New York, May 11, 1936] sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (1936-1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.53.22
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Seated Buddha, both hands missing. From north wall of cave 21 at Tianlongshan, Shanxi province

Publication History

  • Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), no. 22, p. 28
  • Li Yuqun, "A New Understanding of the Tang Dynasty Grottoes at Tianlongshan", Orientations, Orientations Magazine Ltd. (Hong Kong, May 2002), vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 48-53, p. 50, fig. 5
  • Stephan Wolohojian and Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Harvard Art Museum/ Handbook, ed. Stephan Wolohojian, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, 2008), p. 35
  • Tianlongshan Caves Project, website, Center for the Art of East Asia, The University of Chicago, accessed April 7, 2021, https://tls.uchicago.edu/single-sculpture/170

Exhibition History

  • S426: Chinese Buddhist Cave Sculpture, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 1610 Buddhist Art I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights
  • ReFrame
  • Google Art Project

Related Media

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu