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Gain access to this incredible resource through either a monthly or a yearly subscription and search the entire collection from your desktop, compare multiple images side by side and zoom into the minute details of the images. Visit www.davidrumsey.com/amica for more information on the collection, click on the link below the revolving thumbnail to the right, or email us at amica@luna-img.com . Creator Nationality: Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese Creator Dates/Places: China Creator Active Place: China Creator Name-CRT: China, Six Dynasties Period, Norther Qi Dynasty Title: Stele with Shakyamuni and Maitreya Title Type: Primary View: Full View Creation Start Date: 550 Creation End Date: 577 Creation Date: 550-577 Object Type: Sculpture Materials and Techniques: marble with polychromy Dimensions: Overall: 119cm AMICA Contributor: The Cleveland Museum of Art Owner Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA ID Number: 1993.108 Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund Rights: http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html Context: For much of the sixth century, China was ruled by a series of weak dynastic houses dominated by warfare, assassination, massacre, and economic disorder. For the Buddhist community, this period of worldly chaos coincided with the beginning of mofa, 10,000 years of decadence when Buddha's teachings were in decline. By one earthly count, mofa would arrive in 552, 1,000 years after the death of Shakyamuni, the Historical Buddha. In this context, escapist religious doctrines promising rebirth in celestial Buddhist paradises proved more popular than earlier cults based on the long-awaited arrival of the Future Buddha, Maitreya. Such changes were part of a profound religious shift that eventually redefined Buddhism as a religion of faith, not works, and offered the potential of divine assistance. These promises are illustrated in this radiant marble sculpture, called a stele, originally intended for a Buddhist temple or cave shrine where it would have received the prayers and offerings of the faithful. The stele features a massive image of Shakyamuni with his hands positioned to signify teaching and the relief from fear. The subject of his lesson may well be one of the scriptures concerning paths to salvation promoted by the Dilun sect of Chinese Buddhism. TheBuddha is flanked by two pairs of smaller figures, who can be identified as his chief disciples and divine associates, and ringed by other heavenly beings called apsarases, all gathered to hear the teacher's words. The back of the sculpture presents a different, less formal vision, with a large meditative figure seated beneath a pair of tall intertwined trees presiding over one of the paradises open to Buddhist believers. Retaining much of its original painted surface, this remarkable sculpture must havebeen purposely buried for protection, possibly during the persecution of Chinese Buddhism in AD 854. Stylistically, the sculpture illustrates the effects of new influences reaching China from Buddhist lands to the west that led to more columnar figures with large, strong physical features revealed through tightly fitting garments. This same style is illustrated by Buddhist sculptures in the cave chapels at Xiangtangshan, a site sponsored by the rulers of the brief but artistically vibrant Northern Qi dynasty. The region of Xiangtangshan, a well-known source for white marble, was also a major center of the Dilun and other paradise sects. Thus, although it is uninscribed, the museum's stele was most likely created in the vicinity of the Northern Qi capitalatAnyang, in northern Henan, not far from Xiangtangshan. K.W. AMICA ID: CMA_.1993.108 AMICA Library Year: 1998 Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, The Cleveland Museum of Art AMICA PUBLIC RIGHTS: a) Access to the materials is granted for personal and non-commercial use. b) A full educational license for non-commercial use is available from Cartography Associates at www.davidrumsey.com/amica/institution_subscribe.html c) Licensed users may continue their examination of additional materials provided by Cartography Associates, and d) commercial rights are available from the rights holder. Home
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