Siddhartha at the Bodhi Tree (100s–200s CE): Art, History and Details

Siddhartha at the Bodhi Tree (100s–200s CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The tree under which the Buddha reached enlightenment marks the center of the composition. It had been under worship by local villagers, for it was known to be the residence of a nature divinity, who here emerges from the tree and altar to praise the Buddha. The altar itself is covered with kusha grass used in the context of sacrificial offerings. At the base of the altar, the earth goddess has risen from the ground and kneels before him in reverence.

Object facts

• Title: Siddhartha at the Bodhi Tree
• Date: 100s–200s CE
• Culture: Pakistan, Gandhara
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: schist
• Dimensions: Overall: 73.7 x 57.2 cm (29 x 22 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art - Kushan, Gandhara
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1997.151

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Kurita, Isao 栗田功. Gandhāran art [ガンダ-ラ美術 = Gandāra bijutsu]. Tōkyō: Nigensha, 1988.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major African Sculpture, Recent Mark Tansey Painting, and Other Works of Art Enter CMA Collection,” September 16, 1997, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Czuma, Stanislaw. “East Meets West”, Members Magazine, Cleveland Museum of Art, May 1998.

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.