Guangzhai Temple Seven Jewel Tower: Buddha Triad Niche
Limestone
Guangzhai Temple Seven Jewel Tower: Buddha Triad Niche
CHINA, Shaanxi, Xi’an; Wu Zhou period
An inscription dates the sculpture to 703 and identifies Wei Jun as the person who commissioned it. The Buddha, with right hand in abhaya (fearlessness) mudra, is seated in full lotus position on a Sumeru lotus throne. The two Bodhisattvas on either side are identified as Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta by the attributes held in their hands. Both figures have their hair swept into elaborate topknots and wear stoles that fall gracefully down their bodies to the lotus pedestals on which they stand. Their transparent skirts are knotted at the waist and show the shape of their legs, with one foot advanced before the other. All three figures have circular nimbuses with a peach-shaped rim.
Low relief tree trunks divide the figures and then break into flowering branches that grow up into the overshadowing lintel, with apsaras visible on either side.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture G-M, page 385.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Lovelock, Yann and Chou, Yuan and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture G-M},
pages = 385,
title = {{Guangzhai Temple Seven Jewel Tower: Buddha Triad Niche}},
volume = 11,
year = {2016}}