Buddhism In Sculpture

Image that is recognized all around the world, name that does not take time remembering when that image is seen, a half naked man sitting in a meditative pose - some god, as seen by most people, Buddha is a messenger of internal peace that has as much of a story behind him as Jesus or Allah. Religions iconography and gods represented in sculptures always have a great deal of symbolism involved in them. Nothing ordinary person would look into these days until the topic is confronted unavoidably through a class or a show in a museum, which I was lucky enough to take a part of recently.

Every Buddhist statue tells a story of its own. Educated person can say where the statue comes from and which time period it comes from just by looking at certain features, which proves the unique developments in eastern art, art that is so similar and different at the same time. Statues originating from same countries a lot of times are made of the same materials and are decorated in ways that trace throughout the region. For example there are three major features that characterize the Luang Prabang Buddha in comparison to those of the neighboring countries. The usanisa (cranial protuberance) is always embellished with a stylized flame; the earlobe unusually long is shaped like a snail shell; and the urna or divine frontal sign is never represented.

There is something unique about the statuary representations of Buddha that sets Buddhist art apart from the European art developments. Mainly it is the fact that Buddha image has stayed the same over the centuries, unlike European goal of realistic representation has been the main concern and the source of inspiration for the development in the carving techniques.

Although Buddha figures' natural look, look that indicates life in the body made of rock, Asian statues' shapes are still abstracted in some way. Chinese representations of Buddha are usually puffier and look inflated if compared to the images originating from such neighboring states as India and Japan where the form looks sharper and the shoulder-to-waist ratio is higher. Despite the abstract form statues' expressions are still representative of Buddha's meditative, neutral state of midlife, which captures his state of enlightenment and inner piece.

One can only imagine how many statues there had been made over the centuries of philosophy's existence. Besides the amount that has been destroyed with time there are thousands, probably millions that still exist and are available for public view and research. Minneapolis Institute of Art offers a wide array of examples that vary in styles, origins and time of production. I cannot leave unmentioned the fact that out of all the exhibits I have not seen enough examples of statue capturing Buddha's moment of enlightenment under the sacred fig tree called Bodhi. Just like the cross Jesus was crucified upon, signifying the