id:			147590
accession number:	1973.85.b
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.85.b
updated:		2023-03-11 20:51:01.221000

Seated Buddha (Halo), 1100s. Japan, Heian period (794–1185). Gilded wood; average: 101.6 x 68.6 x 1.3 cm (40 x 27 x 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.b

title:				Seated Buddha (Halo)
title in original language:	如来坐像 (光背）
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1100s
creation date earliest:		1100
creation date latest:		1199
current location:		235B Japanese
creditline:			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
copyright:			

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culture:	Japan, Heian period (794–1185)
technique:	gilded wood
department:	Japanese Art
collection:	Japanese Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Average: 101.6 x 68.6 x 1.3 cm (40 x 27 x 1/2 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974: Year in Review 1973.

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PROVENANCE

	Setsu Takako 瀬津 孝子, Tokyo, Japan, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: ?–1973
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1973–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
This halo may not have originally belonged to this sculpture.

digital description:
Composed of a number of hollowed-out pieces of wood that were then covered with lacquer and gilding, this sculpture served as an image of worship in one of the small temples surrounding Kōfukuji, a major Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan. Like many Buddhas, this figure has its right hand positioned in a gesture meaning "fear not." The left hand is a replacement, so its original gesture, a clue to this Buddha's identity, is unknown. However, as the left foot is exposed over the garment, in lotus position, it may have been created as a Medicine Master Buddha, Yakushi Nyorai in Japanese, or the Buddha of our era, Shakyamuni.

wall description:
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.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	“The Year in Review for 1973.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, vol. 61, no. 2, 1974, pp. 31–78.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 79, no. 196
	url:		www.jstor.org/stable/25152513

	Yamane, Yūzō 山根有三, Shūjirō Shimada 島田修二郎, and Terukazu Akiyama 秋山光和. <em>Zaigai Nihon no shihō</em> [在外日本の至宝 = Japanese Art: Selections froM Western Collections, vol. 8 ]. Tōkyō: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1979.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 8, p. 118, pl. 8
	url:		

	Zenzo Shimizu, "Japanese Sculptures in America and Canada," <em>Bukkyō geijutsu </em>[佛教藝術= Ars Buddhica] , no. 126 (September 1979), part I, pp. 67-88.
	page number: 	fig. 4
	url:		

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IMAGES