Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Head of the Buddha
(India, Nepal, and Tibet)
This stucco head once belonged to a Buddha sculpture that occupied either a shrine or a niche on the exterior of a stupa (a sacred mound encasing Buddhist relics). Although the characteristic bump on the crown of the Buddha’s head ("ushnisha") is now missing, the remainder of an elongated right earlobe confirms the figure’s identity. His facial features and wavy hair bear a connection to Greco-Roman sculpture—an artistic outcome of the political and mercantile ties that existed between ancient Gandhara and the Greco-Roman world. Hand-modeled with smooth stucco, the figure was once painted, and traces of pigments remain on the eyebrows, eyes, and lips.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 2002, by gift.
Geographies
Pakistan (Gandhara) (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 9 7/16 × W: 5 1/8 × D: 6 5/16 in. (24 × 13 × 16 cm); Block only H: 1 3/4 × W: 5 7/8 × D: 5 7/8 in. (4.5 × 15 × 15 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of John and Berthe Ford, 2002
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
25.243