Head of a Bodhisattva
Unknown Artist
75–early 100s CE
Medium
red sandstone
Dimensions
50.8 × 25.4 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Robert H. Ellsworth in memory of Christian Humann
Accession Number
1984.220
About this artwork
This monumental male head must have originally belonged to a larger-than-life Bodhisattva image. The imposing turban is of the type worn by royalty, divinities, and nobility during the Kushan period from the first through third century. The round, fleshy face, heightened by a subtle smile, retains the powerful quality of early Kushan and pre-Kushan images of nature divinities, known as yakshas.