Bodhisattva

ca. mid-2nd - mid 3rd century

Although dressed as a prince with jewels and a pearl headdress, this figure can be identified as a bodhisattva. The left arm is broken, but its lowered position indicates that it probably held a flask, which implies that he is the Bodhisattva Maitreya, embodiment of wisdom and also the Buddha of the future.

Thick drapery, wavy hair, and a muscular chest recall the sculpture of ancient Greece and Rome. In 327 BCE, Alexander the Great, a king from Macedon (northern Greece), conquered the Gandhara region (parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan). Although he did not stay long, he left colonies and opened trade routes. Sculptors trained in the Greco-Roman style continued to pass down their trade in the region for centuries, often working for Buddhist patrons.

Schist

45 x 15 x 7 in. (114.3 x 38.1 x 17.78 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

44.63

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle World's Fair, Fine Arts Pavilion, "Art Of The Ancient East", 1962 (1962)

Vancouver, British Columbia, Vancouver Art Gallery, "Distant Reverence: Buddhist Sculpture From The Seattle Art Museum", August 16 - October 22, 1989 (08/16/1989 - 10/22/1989)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Indian Buddhist Sculpture", February 3 - August 20, 1990, (02/03/1990 - 08/20/1990)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesSeattle Art Museum, Annual Report 1944, p. 7, fig. p. 23

Seattle Art Museum, Engagement Book, December 11, 1966

"Seattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures." London: Scala Publishers Ltd. for the Seattle Art Museum, 2007, pp. 72-73, illus. p. 72.

Foong, Ping, Xiaojin Wu, and Darielle Mason. "An Asian Art Museum Transformed." Orientations vol. 51, no. 3 (May/June 2020): pp. 54-55, reproduced fig. 12 (installation view).

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