Artist: unknown
Title: The Great Stupa/Mount Meru at Borobudur, first gallery, Scenes
from the Lives of the Buddha Shakyamuni.
Material: volcanic rock
Site: Borobudur, Central Java, Indonesia
Current Location: in situ
Period/Date: ca. end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century,
under the Shailendra dynasty
Iconography/Iconology: Scenes from the life of Sakyamuni are depicted
in this panel. Specifically, the Great Departure, when the prince Siddharta
leaves the palace and gives up his worldly existence, is seen at the top
and an unidentified episode, probably a jataka (stories of Sakyamuni's former
rebirths), is seen below.
Stylistic Comments: The crowded compositions are characteristic to
Indonesian art from its conception to the present day. In many occasions
a narrative will describe the activity between two individuals, but in depicting
the scene the Indonesian artists fill in the negative space with dozens
of attending entourage figures.
