Seated Buddha in the Attitude of Preaching
(India, Nepal, and Tibet)
The Buddha's hand gesture, or mudra, is called dharma-chakra. It reveals the Buddha to be preaching a sermon in which he explains the four Noble Truths of human existence and the path to enlightenment. Many sculptures of this type were created in the Gandharan region of present-day Pakistan. This region had fallen under the control of Alexander the Great during his conquest in the 4th century BC, and the sculptors there were greatly influenced by Greco-Roman artistic traditions.
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.
Exhibitions
1995 | Unearthly Elegance: Buddhist Art from the Griswold Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Pakistan, Gandharan Region (Kushan Empire) (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 24 13/16 in. (63 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of A. B. Griswold, 1992
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.
25.123