Buddha with Hands in Gesture of Teaching, Vitarka Mudra (600s): Art, History and Details

Buddha with Hands in Gesture of Teaching, Vitarka Mudra (600s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Made during the early phase of Buddhist art production in mainland Southeast Asia, this Buddha wears a plain robe that indicates the artist's awareness of images made at the workshops of Sarnath, on the Ganges River in India. The hem of the lower garment, worn under the monk's robe, elegantly crosses the ankles, and the subtle line at the waist shows where it is secured.

Object facts

• Title: Buddha with Hands in Gesture of Teaching, Vitarka Mudra
• Date: 600s
• Culture: Thailand, Mon-Dvaravati period
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Southeast Asian
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1958.334

A detail from the museum

Bronze sculptures in Thailand were made by sculpting clay around an iron armature; the clay core remains inside.

Collection credit

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 46, no. 10 (December 1959): 210–231.
• Lee, Sherman E. “ An Early Bronze Buddha from Thailand.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 48, no. 3 (March 1961).
• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” September 4, 1962, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

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.