Unknown Himalayan artist, Buddha Shakyamuni, Tibet; 13th century. Gilt copper alloy and pigments, 13 ¼ x 10 ¾ x 7 in. Rubin Museum of Art Collection, New York
This small but exquisite metal sculpture is almost eight hundred years old and was most likely made using the lost-wax casting method. In Himalayan visual traditions, images, whether painted or sculpted, contain clues that let the viewer know who or what they are looking at. We can identify this figure as a buddha, specifically the Buddha Shakyamuni, through its posture, hand gestures (or mudras), and physical characteristics–such as the cranial protuberance (the ushnisha), a tuft of hair between the eyebrows (the urna), and long earlobes. The stretched earlobes, in particular, evidence the strain of heavy earrings and serve as a reminder of Shakyamuni’s worldly possessions and royal identity, which he renounced for a life of asceticism. The seated, cross-legged lotus position (associated with meditation), along with the right hand touching the ground in a mudra known as the earth-touching gesture signify a pivotal moment in the Buddha’s life when he called the earth to witness his awakening.
This ancient Buddha Shakyamuni is included in “Gateway to Himalayan Art ,“ a virtual reality experience, we created in partnership with the Rubin Museum of Art, to celebrate objects from their stellar collection. Boulevard Arts’ experience not only allows you to look closely at this special sculpture, but to turn it in space, and see it in the round, from all sides–something you certainly can’t’do in real life (unless you are one of the curators)!