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Buddha Head
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This Buddha has a soft and gentle smile, a typical attribute of Korean images of the Buddha. His plum cheeks and soft smile remind us of his childlike purity while his nearly closed eyes show him in a moment of meditation. The empty divot in the middle of the forehead would originally have contained a jewel symbolizing the light emanating from the Buddha. His head is topped with a profusion of snail-shell curls and an ushnisha , a mound symbolizing the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBuddha Head (철조 불두 [鐵造佛頭]), 1900s. Korea. Cast iron; overall: 41.8 x 33.7 x 32.1 cm (16 7/16 x 13 1/4 x 12 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1997.146
