Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokiteśvara) 観音菩薩立像かんのんぼさつりゅうぞう

Description

{i=>[kebutsu], content=>[This strikingly elegant and slender statue can be identified as the bodhisattva Kannon (Skt. Avalokiteśvara) on the basis of the prominent transformation Buddha (, ) at the top of its head. It stands with its right hand to the ornament at its torso, an unusual pose. There are three other known statues in the same form. It is presumed that these were made within the same religious and geographic context and then disseminated.]}

A transformed Seated Buddha (kebutsu) appears in the center atop its forehead and in the right hand it holds the beaded ornament. In contrast to the head and hands which are rendered on a relatively large scale, the body is slender. These proportions are characteristic of the Asuka period sculpture of the 7th century.