Minneapolis Institute of Art

Head of a Buddha

China

Date

570–577

Medium

Black limestone

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This head of a buddha once belonged to a large sculpture that was probably located on the wall of a cave temple. The idea of carving temples and monastic complexes into living rock comes from India, but it became a favorite type of religious architecture in China as well. Often the back wall of a cave was devoted to a large buddha, like this one, flanked by attendant bodhisattvas. Asia

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