Standing Buddha Maitreya, Gilt Bronze, Northern Wei Dynasty

A standing gilt bronze figure of a Buddha with a topknot, elongated earlobes, and a serene expression, wearing a long robe with layered, rippling folds that falls to bare feet on a lotus base. The right hand is raised in a gesture of reassurance and the left is extended outward, with the surface showing dark patina beneath the gilding.

Artist

Unknown

Date

dated 486 (10th year of Taihe reign)

Medium

Gilt bronze with traces of pigment; piece-mold cast

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3001 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1926