Cleveland Museum of Art

Standing Avalokitesvara

Date

700s

Medium

Gilt-bronze

Culture

Korea, Unified Silla period (668-935)

Department

Korean Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This small gilt-bronze statue represents the Bodhisattva of Compassion (관음보살 in Korean), an enlightened being who helps devotees on their path. It features two prominent attributes: a water sprinkler ( kundika in Sanskrit) and a miniature image of Buddha Amitābha in its jeweled crown. Its sweet and gentle smile accentuates this celestial being’s immeasurable compassion for human suffering. Created during the Unified Silla period, a high point of the spread of Buddhist teachings, this kind of miniature gilt-bronze statue was often used as a portable object of devotion by traveling Buddhist monks.

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