Sakyamuni Buddha

JAPAN; Kamakura period

This statue was made in 1273 by the artist Genkai, using a beam from Furuhashi Temple in Nara, according to records. It was listed as an Important Cultural Property in 1940.
The Buddha stands barefoot on a Sumeru-shaped lotus pedestal with the right hand raised in abhaya (fearlessness) mudra and the left hand held open in varada (wish-granting) mudra. The figure wears monastic robes whose folds are distinctively patterned in the Udayana Buddha style. The folds ripple concentrically downward into three rows below the waist. The head of the Buddha is topped by snail-shell curls, and is large in proportion to the slender body. Identifying marks of the Buddha’s status include the elongated earlobes and the three lines on the neck. The eyes are inset with semi-precious stone.