Artist: Tan Yao (patron)
Title: Cave 20 , Amitabha Buddha
Material: sandstone
Site: Yungang, Shansi
Current Location:
Period/Date: Ca. 460-475 C.E. Northern Wei
Iconography/Iconology: Amitabha Buddha seated in the meditation, or Dhayana, gesture, one of the characteristic gestures of this Buddha. He is shown seated in his paradise, Sukhavati, the land of bliss.
Stylistic Comments: A very interesting comparison can be made between this image and of the contemporaneous 477 C.E. standing Maitreya. The appearance of the body through the drapery, the folds of the drapery as defined by a reaised double line separated by a groove, and the overall body mass are essentially the same given the limitations of the bronze versus soft sandstone media.
