# Adoring Monk

- Date: early 500s
- Medium: gilt bronze
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: Overall: 14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.); Base: 3.6 x 5.2 x 3.9 cm (1 7/16 x 2 1/16 x 1 9/16 in.); Figure: 11.5 cm (4 1/2 in.)
- Culture: China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)
- Credit line: Gift of Mrs. John Lyon Collyer in memory of her mother, Mrs. G. M. G. Forman
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.213)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.213/1962.213_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Portable Buddhist figures and objects like this gilt bronze had a variety of uses. They could have been carried in religious processions. Others could serve as donations, souvenirs, or votive items in the context of pilgrimages to religious sites. Their miniature size also made them appropriate for placement on private altars or shrines for personal devotion.