Artist: Unknown
Title: Sakyamuni and Prabutaratna from the Lotus Sutra
Material: Gilt Bronze
Site: Unknown
Current Location: Musee Guimet, Paris.
Period/Date: Dated 518 C.E. under the Bei Wei Dynasty
Iconography/Iconology: In the Lotus Sutra the Buddha of the remote
past, Prabutaratna, appears in his golden stupa in the sky above the place
where Shakyamuni is teaching the text. It is explained that Prabutaratna
appears in such a manner everytime the Lotus Sutra is taught. To emphasize
the unity of all Buddhas, the Sutra explains how Shakyamuni rises into the
sky to sit beside Prabutaratna in his stupa. Prabutaratna only appears in
the Lotus Sutra and has no other iconographic situation in Buddhism. His
presence here is to demonstrate that all Buddhas, no matter how remote,
are essentially identical and part of the same attainment continiuum. It
is the only time in Buddhist literature that two Buddhas appear in the same
place at the samne time. As theLotus Sutra was an extremely important text
in China, this event became one of the most popularly portrayed episodes
in early Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Because the dual figures uniquely characterize
the Lotus Sutra, it is often seen as a demonstration of the devotion to
the Lotuas Sutra.
Stylistic Comments: At the beginning of the 6th century the Bei Wei
court mandated that all members of the court would switch to Chinese-style
costume as against their indigenous north Asian style.. This deliberate
sinification led to Buddha images being represented as wearing Chinese-style
robes instead of the previous Indic style such as that seen in the 477 C.E.
image. The distinction is that the Chinese-style robes appear much thicker,
with heavier folds, and reveal almost no shape of the body beneath. In addition,
sweeping, swallow-tailed folds of drapery flare out from the lower portion
of the body. The body-type itself has undergone a marked change. It became
extremely elongated and slender.
