Minneapolis Institute of Art

Buddha

Pakistan

Date

3rd century

Medium

Schist

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Buddha can be recognized by several marks, most prominently the ushnisha, a protrusion on the head, and the urna, a tuft of hair between the eyes from which a ray of light reveals the whole universe. This meditating Buddha would have been flanked by Brahma and Indra, two Hindu gods incorporated into Buddhism. The sculpture is from Gandhara, a historical region in northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan with close affinities to ancient Greece and Rome, reflected here in the flowing folds of robes and chiseled facial features. Asia

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