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Buddha Shakyamuni Granting Boons

India (Uttar Pradesh, Sarnath)

Not on view

Sarnath monastery, at the site of the Buddha’s First Sermonin a forest north of Varanasi, northern India, supported the most influential school of Buddhist art during the Gupta period (ca. 320–550). The Sarnath style came to dominate the Buddha image, becoming a pan-Asian aesthetic. It was transmitted to Southeast Asia in the form of portable icons made of metal, wood, and, surprisingly, stone (cat. no. 9). The aesthetic exemplified by this Buddha had a profound impact on religious imagery in seventh-century Southeast Asia, especially in the sculpture workshops of the Dvaravati kingdom of central Thailand.

cat. no. 10

Buddha Shakyamuni Granting Boons, Sandstone, India (Uttar Pradesh, Sarnath)

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