Buddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure Land

Buddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure Land

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The imagery in this painting shows the Buddha Amitabha descending from his Pure Land to welcome the soul of a recently deceased individual into his paradisiacal abode. Amitabha is one of several Buddhas who create and maintain such realms, and paintings of Amitabha (either alone or attended by bodhisattvas) were among the most widely produced images in China from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. Here, the Buddha stands on two lotuses and holds his right hand in a gesture of welcome. He wears a green undergarment with a wide hem decorated with floral patterns and a red monastic shawl with gold bands. The abstracted folds of drapery on the right arm, the transparency of the green garment as it falls over the arm, and the figure's bean-shaped face are characteristic of the thirteenth century.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Buddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure LandBuddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure LandBuddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure LandBuddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure LandBuddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure Land

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.