Bodhisattva Manjushri: Lord of Wisdom (1000s–1100s): Art, History and Details

Bodhisattva Manjushri: Lord of Wisdom (1000s–1100s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Bodhisattva of Wisdom can be identified by the lion mount, the horizontal palm-leaf manuscript on the lotus above his left shoulder, and the stupa above his head. His seat and footrests are lotus flowers, indicating transcendence of the ordinary world.

Object facts

• Title: Bodhisattva Manjushri: Lord of Wisdom
• Date: 1000s–1100s
• Culture: East India, Bengal
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Bronze with gilding and inlay of semiprecious stones
• Dimensions: Overall: 31.2 cm (12 5/16 in.); Part 1: 6.5 x 15.5 x 11.9 cm (2 9/16 x 6 1/8 x 4 11/16 in.); Part 2: 41.9 x 15.2 cm (16 1/2 x 6 in.); Part 3: 16.5 x 8.5 cm (6 1/2 x 3 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1960.285

A detail from the museum

His hand gestures show that he teaches the wisdom that leads to enlightenment.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• “Annual Report for 1960.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 48, no. 6, 1961, pp. 107–147.
• Master Bronzes of India: The Art Institute of Chicago ... [et al]. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1965.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.