Shakyamuni coming down from the mountains

Unidentified artist

Not on view

The person who became Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, was born a prince named Siddharta Gautama. In his late twenties, he encountered four scenes of human pain that led to his initial awakening: life was suffering. Wishing to master the appetites that led to suffering, the prince renounced his possessions and became an ascetic, living in the mountains and eventually subsisting on a single grain of rice per day. This scene shows the Buddha coming down from the mountains, disheveled and emaciated. Convinced that enlightenment lay not with extreme practice, he abandoned asceticism for a moderate path he called the “Middle Way.” Paintings of this scene usually show Shakyamuni alone; here, he is accompanied by two bodhisattvas.

Shakyamuni coming down from the mountains, Unidentified artist , late 13th–early 14th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China

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painting

Shakyamuni coming down from the mountains, Unidentified artist , late 13th–early 14th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China
Shakyamuni coming down from the mountains, Unidentified artist , late 13th–early 14th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, China

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