Cleveland Museum of Art

Seated Buddha (lotus pedestal)

Date

1100s

Medium

gilded wood

Culture

Japan, Heian period (794–1185)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Composed of a number of hollowed-out pieces of wood that were then covered with lacquer and gilding, this sculpture would have served as the principal image of worship in a Buddhist temple hall. The Buddha Yakushi resides in the Lapis Lazuli Paradise of the East, and heals all diseases, including the ailment of ignorance. His left hand once held a medicine jar, while his right hand gestures reassurance. Seated on a lotus pedestal and backed by a mandorla and halo, the Buddha may have once been flanked by the bodhisattvas of the Sun and Moon, Nikkō and Gakkō, and protected by the Twelve Divine Generals, or Junishinshō. This figure is depicted with a mudra, or hand gesture, that means "have no fear."

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