# Standing Buddha with Hand in Gesture of Teaching (<em>Vitarkamudra</em>)

- By: Pre-Angkorean
- Date: Mon period, 8th century
- Medium: Bronze
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: 52 × 15.1 × 12.4 cm (20 1/4 × 4 7/8 × in.)
- Culture: Thailand
- Credit line: Gift of Marilynn B. Alsdorf
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/149846)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/58c2fe3b-fea0-7f74-2a3e-8b96dfbdbf1b/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This bronze standing Buddha, attributed to the 8th-century Mon style of central Thailand, features a “wet garment” robe reflecting post-Gupta influences. The face displays classic Mon traits: rounded form, broad nose, and continuous arched eyebrows. Clockwise hair curls and three neck lines symbolize the “Great Man” in Buddhist iconography. The right arm is raised in a teaching gesture. Due to monument abandonment and sculpture displacement, linking this image to a specific site is difficult. Many bronzes from this era were lost or repurposed, making surviving examples rare.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0