Sun Bodhisattva (Nikkō Bosatsu)
c. 800
- Medium
- Japanese nutmeg-yew wood with traces of color and gold
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 46.7 cm (18 3/8 in.)
- Culture
- Japan, Heian period (794–1185)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance 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 Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Bodhisattvas are beings who have attained enlightenment but delay entry into Buddhahood until they have fulfilled their varied vows to aid others along the path to enlightenment. The flowing robes and curving posture of this figure were inspired by Chinese Buddhist sculpture. However, the interplay of the wood grain in this single block of yew with the artist’s subtle carving is a Japanese innovation. Originally paired with the Moon Bodhisattva (Gekkō Bosatsu), this figure likely flanked a sculpture of the Medicine Master Buddha (Yakushi Nyorai).
