Buddha Triad

CHINA; Northern Wei dynasty

This group, consisting of a Buddha and attendant Bodhisattvas, was carved from a single piece of limestone. The Buddha forms the abhaya (fearlessness) mudra with the right hand and the varada (wish-granting) mudra with the left hand. A loose monastic robe is worn by the Buddha. The Bodhisattvas are elevated on pedestals. The figure on the right makes the same mudra as the Buddha while the one on the left has palms joined in reverence. The trio is enclosed in an intricately carved mandorla whose principal element is the large oval nimbus behind the Buddha’s head. This adjoins the petal shaped nimbuses of the Bodhisattvas, which are plain and carved in bas-relief.
The sculpture is from the northern area of Henan and belongs to the late Northern Wei dynasty (386–534). There is an inscription stating that Zhao Jian and three other persons commissioned the work.