Yakushi Nyorai
10th/11th century
- Medium
- Wood with traces of polychromy
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 88.9 × 50.8 × 50.8 cm (35 × 20 × 20 in.)
- Culture
- Japan
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Samuel M. Nickerson fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
The spiritual ideal of the late Heian period (794–1185) is revealed in serene religious images such as this statue of Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing. Traditionally invoked to cure both physical and spiritual afflictions, Yakushi lifts his right hand in a gesture of reassurance and protection while he cups a medicine bottle in his left hand. The gentle modeling and precisely folded drapery of this work express the elegance of Buddhist sculpture commissioned by the Heian aristocracy.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
