ETHAS 038665

Gandhâra sculpture fragment triade du Buddha avec un bodhisattva

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038665
The historic Śākyamuni Buddha
Pakistan, Gandhāra
2nd century
Schist
Acquired in 1976
The Buddha is seating on the lotus of enlightenment, with Maitreya bodhisattva. Avalokitasvara bodhisattva is missing on his left.

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Inventaire original MEG. Registres tapuscrits, volumes 19 à 59
Registres_tapuscrits/38665.pdf

 

Japanese Buddhist iconography

Buddhism passed from China to Japan in the 6th century. There it was particularly influenced by its esoteric form (Tantrism). This form uses rituals to a large number of beings who incarnate various degrees of enlightenment: buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods and goddesses, “kings of science” and others. Tantric Buddhism is represented by the Shingon and Tendai schools. They specialised in iconography in order to codify the colours, postures and gestures of the various personages used not only in the rituals but as an aid to meditation.

The great Amida (<i>Daibutsu</i>) Buddha of Kamakura, <i>Views and Customs of Japan</i>, by Stillfried & Andersen, Yokohama, around 1870.

The great Amida (Daibutsu) Buddha of Kamakura, Views and Customs of Japan, by Stillfried & Andersen, Yokohama, around 1870. Alfred Bertrand collection © MEG Inv. ETHPH 411954

The Buddhist iconography in Gandhara

The art of Gandhāra, a region spanning the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, was the first to depict Buddha in physical form, in the early Christian era. The main iconographic features of a Buddha are already present: the topknot (uṣṇīṣa) and the tuft of silvery hairs between the eyebrows (ūrṇā). Buddhism disappeared from this region and from the Indian continent after the Islamic invasions of the 12th century.

Bibliograpy

  • ERACLE, Jean et GARCIA, Asun, avec la collaboration de Laurent Aubert. 1987. L'Inde aux mille visages, illustrée au moyen des collections indiennes du Musée d'ethnographie de Genève. Catalogue d'exposition. Genève: Musée d'ethnographie., 54-55, MEG Carl-Vogt,
  • collectif. 1981. Collections du Musée d'ethnographie de Genève, n° spécial du Bulletin annuel. Genève : MEG, 106-107, MEG Carl-Vogt, PME 21
  • Ducor, Jérôme. 2010. Le regard de Kannon. Genève : Musée d'ethnographie, p. 33
  • Ducor, Jérôme. 2004. "Les sources de la Sukhâvatî, autour d'une étude récente de G. Fussman". JIABS, 27-2, p. 357-410, 367

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