Shaka (Shakyamuni), The Historical Buddha, Descending from the Mountains

Shaka (Shakyamuni), The Historical Buddha, Descending from the Mountains

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Shaka renounced the world and went into the mountains to become an ascetic at the age of twenty-nine. Unable to reach enlightenment after six years of rigorous austerities, he departed in disillusionment. He resolved to continue his search not by challenging his physical endurance but through disciplined meditation—a moment that developed importance only among Zen Buddhists. This picture is modeled after a work by a little-known thirteenth-century Chinese painter of religious figures, Yan Hui. Introduced to Japan by the late fourteenth century, his art proved influential among Japanese painter-monks in Buddhist monasteries. Numerous paintings in Japan, including this one, have been attributed to Yan Hui himself—more as a form of stylistic categorization than as an indication of actual authorship

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Shaka (Shakyamuni), The Historical Buddha, Descending from the MountainsShaka (Shakyamuni), The Historical Buddha, Descending from the MountainsShaka (Shakyamuni), The Historical Buddha, Descending from the MountainsShaka (Shakyamuni), The Historical Buddha, Descending from the MountainsShaka (Shakyamuni), The Historical Buddha, Descending from the Mountains

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.