# Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

- By: Khmer
- Date: Angkor period, 11th century
- Medium: Sandstone
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: 45.1 × 25.4 × 9.9 cm (17 3/4 × 10 × 3 7/8 in.)
- Culture: Southeast Asia
- Credit line: Gift of Marilynn B. Alsdorf
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/149847)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/ae9711c3-abd1-ac8b-c8c4-75343e4dd011/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 fragmented sandstone sculpture depicts Avalokiteshvara, the four-armed Bodhisattva of compassion, from the 11th-century Angkor period. Carved in the elegant Baphuon style, it features a high-tied sampot (male wrap garment), a serene face, and a small seated Buddha Amitabha in the chignon—crucial for its identification. Likely once part of a worship triad, the sculpture’s exact origins remain unknown, reflecting the difficulties of tracing displaced artifacts from this period.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0