Buddha, probably Amitabha (Amida) Carver: Unknown

15th–16th century

Asian Art

By appointment, Wurtele Study Center

The position of the arms indicates that the hands of this Buddha were held in the lap, possibly with the curled fingers placed back-to-back, a gesture that was used by the celestial Buddha Amitabha in East Asia. This Buddha is the focus of a popular East Asian practice known as Pure Land Buddhism; devotees hope to be reborn in Amitabha’s pure land, a paradisiacal realm in which conditions are conducive to the achievement of enlightenment.

Medium

Wood with pigment

Dimensions

9 7/8 × 9 × 7 in. (25.1 × 22.9 × 17.8 cm)
base: 1 1/2 × 12 3/4 × 7 3/8 in. (3.8 × 32.4 × 18.7 cm)

Credit Line

Bequest of Laura Seymour Doolittle in memory of her sister Helen Wells Seymour

Accession Number

1957.53.9a-b

Geography

Japan

Culture

Japanese

Period

Muromachi period (1336–1573)

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Laura Seymour Doolittle (1873–1957), New Haven, Conn.; bequeathed to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1957
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

View IIIF manifest

The International Image Interoperability Framework, or IIIF, is an open standard for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. Visit iiif.io to learn more

Linked Art

API response for this object

Linked Art is a Community working together to create a shared Model based on Linked Open Data to describe Art.