Buddha

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Early in the seventh century a new Buddha type appeared in Southeast Asia, inspired by innovations that were taking place in northern India. The wellspring was the important monastic school at Sarnath. Its workshops undoubtedly supplied Buddha images to a great variety of clients, including pilgrim-monks who would have purchased small images—often, one may surmise, made of wood—easily transportable to their homelands. This Buddha, slender and ethereal, is a superb example of the early acceptance of the northern Indian model of ideal Buddhahood, seen in the increasingly detached and otherworldly expression and the use of body-defining drapery. cat. no. 49

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art