The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 1, 2023

Amida Buddha

阿彌陀佛

581–618

China, Sui dynasty

(581-618)

Limestone with traces of polychromy

Overall: 51.4 x 20.3 cm (20 1/4 x 8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1964.152

Location

241C Chinese Buddhist Sculptures

Description

The leaf-shaped halo of this seated Buddha bears the rare, unusual icon of the three nirmana Buddhas, which represents a symbolic homage of the Buddhas of the past, the present, and the future—manifestations of the Buddha in infinite time and space.

Another interpretation is that the three figures without halos represent souls reborn in the Western Paradise thanks to Amida Buddha's divine intervention.

Provenance
K. Takenouchi, Tokyo, Japan
?–1964
(N. V. Hammer, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1964–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 252 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 250 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 330 archive.org
Ghose, Rajeshwari, Puay-peng Ho, and Chuntang Yang. Fa xiang chuan zhen: gu dai fo jiao yi shu [法相傳真 : 古代佛教兿術; In the footsteps of the Buddha: an iconic journey from India to China]. Hong Kong: Xianggang da xue mei shu bo wu guan, 1998. Reproduced: no. 107, p. 325
Menzies, Jackie. Buddha: Radiant Awakening. Sydney: Art Gallery NSW, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 110, pp. 152–153
Exhibition history

Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1964-January 31, 1965).

Images of Enlightenment: Gems from Buddhist Art of Asia. Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (September 26-December 15, 1998).

Buddha, Radiant Awakening. Art Gallery of New South Wales (organizer) (November 10, 2001-February 24, 2002).

Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.152