Museum Fieldwork Paper The Guimet Museum is a museum of Asian art located in Paris, France, it has one of the largest collections of Asian art outside Asia. This paper will talk about the difference and similarities between two Buddhist art pieces, “Standing Buddha” and “Standing Bodhisattva”. “Standing Bodhisattva” (AO 29007) is a sculpture from Pakistan, Kushan period (1st-3rd century). It is one of the Gandhara Buddhist art. Gandhara style Buddhist art was influenced by Greek style to a great extent. Compared to Mathura style Buddhist art, Gandhara sculptures were mainly in built by grey stones, clothes of the sculpture were covering more parts of the body and there were more details in the face and body which made the sculpture look
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The
Jiang 2 plinth is also decorated with a Buddhist scene depicting donors worshipping the Enlightened Ones begging bowl. The piece perhaps represents the future Buddha before his renunciation of worldly things and while he is still Prince Siddhartha Gautama or, alternatively, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. (Standing Bodhisattva) “Standing Buddha” (EO 2730) is a sculpture from Shaanxi province, Yungang cave. It was made during Northern Wei dynasty (386-534) and is made of Pinkish grey limestone. The Buddha is standing peacefully and his hand gesture is a Abhaya Mudrā, which is one hand raised with palm open, the other hanging down pointing to the ground as a vow. The Abhaya Mudrā represents protection, peace, benevolence and the dispelling of fear. (Mudra)
The Buddha’s face is rounder and flatter than the standing bodhisattva. It is a distinctly Chinese face with chubby cheeks and linked, arching eyebrows is quite different from the Gandharian morphology of the previous period. Although distanced from the Indian Buddhist canon, the facial expression, the gestures, and even the omnipresent folded rendering all reflect a harmonious effigy, in line with the Buddhist ideal. (Standing
The
Jiang 2 plinth is also decorated with a Buddhist scene depicting donors worshipping the Enlightened Ones begging bowl. The piece perhaps represents the future Buddha before his renunciation of worldly things and while he is still Prince Siddhartha Gautama or, alternatively, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. (Standing Bodhisattva) “Standing Buddha” (EO 2730) is a sculpture from Shaanxi province, Yungang cave. It was made during Northern Wei dynasty (386-534) and is made of Pinkish grey limestone. The Buddha is standing peacefully and his hand gesture is a Abhaya Mudrā, which is one hand raised with palm open, the other hanging down pointing to the ground as a vow. The Abhaya Mudrā represents protection, peace, benevolence and the dispelling of fear. (Mudra)
The Buddha’s face is rounder and flatter than the standing bodhisattva. It is a distinctly Chinese face with chubby cheeks and linked, arching eyebrows is quite different from the Gandharian morphology of the previous period. Although distanced from the Indian Buddhist canon, the facial expression, the gestures, and even the omnipresent folded rendering all reflect a harmonious effigy, in line with the Buddhist ideal. (Standing