Crowned Buddha

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This crowned Buddha image was cast in Lopburi, the Khmer provincial capital located in central (modern day) Thailand in the early centuries of the second millennium. It reflects a new vogue in Buddhism for the crowned and bejeweled Buddha, adornment normally reserved for Buddhist saviors—bodhisattvas—not Buddhas. This reflected a new envisioning of the Buddha that drew on very early notions of the Buddha as a spiritual sovereign, a chakravartin. Eastern Indian models of the Pala period, which are known to have circulated, served as models for Lopburi artists to produce their very Khmer-style versions of this new Buddha-type.

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