Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin)
China, unknown artist, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), 13th/14th century, wood with traces of pigment, Museum Purchase: Ella M. Hirsch Fund, public domain, 38.52
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin)
- Artist
- Date
13th/14th century
- Period
China: Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE)
China: Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)
- Medium
wood with traces of pigment
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
43 1/4 in x 41 1/2 in x 24 1/4 in
- Collection Area
Asian Art
- Category
Sculpture
- Object Type
sculpture
- Culture
Chinese
- Credit Line
Museum Purchase: Ella M. Hirsch Fund
- Accession Number
38.52
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
This solemn and impressive figure represents the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Chinese, Guanyin), the embodiment of compassion and one of the most widely worshipped deities throughout Asia. Avalokitesvara is depicted in the guise of an ancient Indian prince—with long hair, jewelry, and dressed in a long kilt-like garment—recalling that the historical Buddha was a prince before abandoning secular life to seek a spiritual awakening. In Buddhism, bodhisattvas are those worthy of enlightenment but who choose to remain in the material world to help others.
In China from the eleventh century onward, wood became the principal material for large-scale Buddhist sculpture. This image, once brightly painted, would have been placed on a high platform in a large and dark temple interior, lit primarily by candlelight. The three openings in the back were probably made to allow monks to put sacred texts or relics inside when the sculpture was first consecrated, or ‘brought alive’ as an icon. The wood in this image is heavily damaged. Very little paint remains, and the entire right arm is a later and awkwardly carved replacement.