Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara Padmapani (1674): Art, History and Details

Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara Padmapani (1674) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The stone stele is carved with a standing bodhisattva supporting two lotuses that flank him on both sides. For this reason, he is called Padmapani (Lotus Bearer). In the center of his crown is a seated Buddha Amitabha. The cult of Padmapani has been extremely popular in Nepal at least since the 500s AD.

Object facts

• Title: Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara Padmapani
• Date: 1674
• Culture: Nepal
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: stone
• Dimensions: Overall: 46.3 x 23 cm (18 1/4 x 9 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Nepalese Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1978.24

A detail from the museum

An antelope skin is draped over his left shoulder, indicated his iconographic connection with Hindu ascetics.

Collection credit

Gift of Claude De Marteau

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1978.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 1 (January 1979): 3–47.

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.