# The bodhisattva Maitreya

- By: anonymous
- Date: c. 200 - c. 300
- Medium: gilding (material), slate (rock), dye
- Classification: sculpture
- Dimensions: height 52 cm x width 30 cm x depth 12 cm
- Credit line: On loan from the Royal Asian Art Society in The Netherlands (schenking Vereniging Rembrandt, 1968)
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/AK-MAK-1188--0b382f9ebb853b4e8df0003b60587a5e)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/ULICe/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Maitreya, the Buddha of the future, is making the abhaya mudra, or '˜fear not' gesture. His webbed fingers are a sign of his divine nature. This figure shows that Buddhist art in Gandhara, which was in contact via trade routes with regions around the Mediterranean Sea, was influenced by Greco-Roman sculpture. The drapery folds of the Maitreya's lower garment, for instance, recall Roman figures, while his hairstyle is based on representations of the Greek god Apollo.