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Tibetan Name: Shakya Tubpa Materials: Lost Wax Method, Gold Plated Copper, Gold Painted Face, Made in Nepal Height: 22 inches Width: 15 inches Depth: 11 inches Weight: 45 pounds Click here to view more images of the Shakyamuni Buddha Statue The image of the Buddha presents unique issues for artists, who must portray a figure at once human and divine, beyond boundaries of gender and time, who personifies the ultimate levels of wisdom and compassion. Both his achievement of transcendence and humanness (for he is often portrayed as teacher) must be served in creating his image. This has without a doubt been accomplished by the artisan that made this piece. From the robust body of this beautiful Buddha to the hypnotizing gaze in his eyes! He has the distinguishing marks that designate his celestial status, such as the cranial bump (ushnisha) and the conspicuous mark in the middle of his forehead (urna). Lord Buddha is seated on a single lotus throne, an emblem of purity. In his left hand he holds a crystal medicine bowl, while his right hand is in the earth-touching gesture or bumisparsha mudra. He wears a distinctive robe elaborately decorated with flowing floral motifs. In the back of the base is the wheel and deer emblem. The Buddhist emblem of a golden eight-spoked wheel flanked by two deer represents the Buddha's first discourse, which he gave in the Deer Park at Sarnath, near Varanasi. This discourse is known as the 'first turning of the wheel of dharma', when the Buddha taught the doctrines of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path to five Indian mendicants. As a symbol of the Buddha's teachings a gilded three-dimensional wheel and deer emblem is traditionally placed at the front of monastery and temple roofs, from here it shines as a crowning symbol of the Buddhadharma. This emblem similarly appears over the four gateways of the divine mandala palace. Lord Buddha is neither creator or judge, but one whose example offers a path towards self-realization, a path predicated upon the believer's capacity to overcome ego and cravings. Central to the Buddha's message is the gaining of wisdom, which consists of limitless compassion for others as well as the ability to move towards the ultimate goal of freedom from suffering, craving and delusion.
The face of the Buddha is painted with 18k gold. The gold is crushed into a
powder and then made into a paste. The gold paste is mixed with an organic
paint mixture then used to paint the most important part of any Buddha statue;
the face. |
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