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Seated Buddha (lotus pedestal)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Composed of a number of hollowed-out pieces of wood that were then covered with lacquer and gilding, this sculpture would have served as the principal image of worship in a Buddhist temple hall. The Buddha Yakushi resides in the Lapis Lazuli Paradise of the East, and heals all diseases, including the ailment of ignorance. His left hand once held a medicine jar, while his right hand gestures reassurance. Seated on a lotus pedestal and backed by a mandorla and halo, the Buddha may have once been flanked by the bodhisattvas of the Sun and Moon, Nikkō and Gakkō, and protected by the Twelve Divine Generals, or Junishinshō.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineSeated Buddha (lotus pedestal) (如来坐像（台座）), 1100s. Japan, Heian period (794–1185). Gilded wood; overall: 145.4 cm (57 1/4 in.); figure: 88.2 cm (34 3/4 in.); pedestal: 57.2 cm (22 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Takako Setsu and her husband, Iwao, in memory of her father-in-law, Inosuke Setsu, and his long friendship with Sherman E. Lee, 1973.85.c
