Shogenji Temple: Prince Siddhartha at Birth
Gilt bronze
Shogenji Temple: Prince Siddhartha at Birth
JAPAN, Aichi, Komaki; Asuka period
This 7th century figurine is among the earliest of this subject in Japan. It was listed as an Important Cultural Property in 1988.
The work was cast in one piece from bronze and then gilded. Behind the head is a tenon that may have been used to connect it to a lost nimbus. The barefoot infant figure stands in the birth mudra, with one hand pointing upward and the other down. His hair is curled and his upper body is bare. On his lower body, he wears a dhoti with a decorative sash and piping, complex details often omitted in smaller figurines such as this.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts, page 300.
Cite this article:
Hsingyun, et al. "Shogenji Temple: Prince Siddhartha at Birth." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts , vol. 18, 2016, pp. 300.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youji, Stefanie Pokorski, Mankuang, and Wen Fan. 2016. "Shogenji Temple: Prince Siddhartha at Birth" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts , 18:300.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youji, Pokorski, S., Mankuang, & Fan, W.. (2016). Shogenji Temple: Prince Siddhartha at Birth. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts (Vol. 18, pp. 300).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youji and Pokorski, Stefanie and Mankuang and Fan, Wen,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts },
pages = 300,
title = {{Shogenji Temple: Prince Siddhartha at Birth}},
volume = 18,
year = {2016}}
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youji and Pokorski, Stefanie and Mankuang and Fan, Wen,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts },
pages = 300,
title = {{Shogenji Temple: Prince Siddhartha at Birth}},
volume = 18,
year = {2016}}