Standing Buddha
Unknown Artist
c. 800s
Medium
Kaolin
Dimensions
h. 13.9 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1973.159
About this artwork
This small sculpture was probably part of a set of eight main scenes from the life of the Buddha, each identified by a specific hand gesture. When the standing Buddha gestures down with his right hand, with the palm facing out, he usually signals his miraculous descent from the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods, where he once spent a monsoon season giving teachings to his mother. She died shortly after his birth and was reborn in the heaven.