Sakyamuni Preaching: A Votive Stele (c. 565 BCE): Art, History and Details

Sakyamuni Preaching: A Votive Stele (c. 565 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The stele shows the historic Buddha Sakyamuni preaching, his lotus throne being flanked by lions, two attendants, and two disciples. There is a date and inscriptions on both sides of the stone.

Object facts

• Title: Sakyamuni Preaching: A Votive Stele
• Date: c. 565 BCE
• Culture: China, Northern Dynasties period (386–581 CE), Northern Zhou (557-581)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Serpentinite
• Dimensions: Average: 13.7 x 9.9 x 5.3 cm (5 3/8 x 3 7/8 x 2 1/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Zhou Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1915.561

A detail from the museum

Originally the figures and background were painted; traces of red and black remain. The figures’ clothing and some exposed skin were gilded.

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• Perkins, Larry David. Intimate Rituals and Personal Devotions: Spiritual Art Through the Ages. Gainesville, Fla: University of Florida, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, 2000.

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.