Stele with Shakyamuni and Maitreya (c. 570s): Art, History and Details

Stele with Shakyamuni and Maitreya (c. 570s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

In this stele, Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha) bears a benign smile in the hand gestures of fearlessness and gift giving. He is flanked by two bodhisattvas and two disciples-all standing against a mandorla (almond-shaped halo) adorned with a stupa and flying heavenly beings. On the reverse side, the Buddha sits in a pensive pose with his head tilted, mediating under twin sala trees. This position is reserved for Shakyamuni’s first meditation or Maitreya’s meditation. The joint appearance of Shakyamuni and Maitreya (the future Buddha) on two sides of a stele was a favorite scheme of the Northern Qi period.

Object facts

• Title: Stele with Shakyamuni and Maitreya
• Date: c. 570s
• Culture: China, Northern Qi dynasty (550-577)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble with polychromy
• Dimensions: Overall: 119 cm (46 7/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Northern Dynasties
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1993.108

A detail from the museum

Shakyamuni, or the historical Buddha, was a prince who gave up his earthly possessions for spiritual transcendence.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Early Chinese Art from Tombs and Temples: [catalogue of exhibition held] 8 June-9 July 1993. London: Eskenazi, 1993.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Adds Two Significant Works of Art,” September 17, 1993, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• "1993 Annual Report." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 6 (1994): 143–218.

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.