Buddha

Description A part of the short inscription on this image suggests that it represents one of the cosmic Buddhas, Akshobhya ("imperturbable"), sometimes assigned to the east, sometimes to the central position. The early traditions of the Guge kingdom, the result of influences from Kashmir, faded after the monk Atisha arrived from Pala India during the mid-11th century, bringing with him a somewhat different form of Buddhism and new stylistic ideals.

Exhibitions

• Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. 2001-2003.

Provenance Saras Fine Arts, Bombay, India [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, February 1969, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2010, by gift.

Credit Gift of John and Berthe Ford, 2010