Standing Bodhisattva
Unknown Artist
1500s
Medium
wood with lacquer and gold, and metal earrings
Dimensions
48.6 × 15.6 × 18.2 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Korean Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1997.11
About this artwork
This work demonstrates the enduring presence of Buddhism and its religious practice during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) even after Neo-Confucianism, a revised form of Confucianism that emphasized self-cultivation as a path to the formation of a harmonious society and state, became the state religion. Because of its missing crown, it is hard to identify what Buddhist deity this statue represents. But there is no doubt it still can be attributed to a bodhisattva (meaning “enlightened being”) for...