Seated Buddha in the Attitude of Preaching

This stone seated Buddha image has a prabhāmaṇḍala behind his head, an urna on his forehead, and his hands in the Dharmachakra mudra. This mudra is typically associated with the act of preaching, connecting back to the Buddha’s sermon at Deer Park and serving as a reminder of the Four Noble Truths. Part of the figure’s robe cascades over the edge of the pedestal on which he is seated. The linear treatment of the fabric here is reminiscent of Greco-Roman stylizations of drapery, likely due to Gandhara’s position as a central trade route between the Mediterranean and the rest of Asia. The pedestal below the Buddha has lost material but a scene can be seen carved in the stone; here a seated Buddha is flanked by a figure to the right. This is likely a donor scene, probably with another figure originally placed on the left, now lost due to material damage.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Alexander B. Griswold, Monkton, [presented to the Breezewood Foundation]; Walters Art Museum, 1992, by bequest.