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The Bodhisattva Maitreya, Buddha of the Future

School of Zanabazar

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 964

Maitreya, dressed as a god, resides in Tushita heaven. The kamandalu (waterpot) signals his ascetic nature and helps identify him. The sculpture is ascribed to the school of the Buddhist master and Mongolian artist Zanabazar, identified by the fifth Dalai Lama as an incarnation of the Tibetan scholar Taranatha (1575–1634) and ordained as the head lama of the Mongolian Gelug sect. The rendering of Maitreya’s lissome torso and clinging garment evince the style of Zanabazar’s fabled artistry.

The Bodhisattva Maitreya, Buddha of the Future, School of Zanabazar (Mongolian, 1635–1723), Gilt bronze, blue pigment, and traces of other pigments, Mongolia

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