BUDA’S HEAD

Of the three heads of Buddhas and bodhisattvas that the Fundación Rodríguez-Acosta owns, this one stands out for its artistic quality, as well as for its antiquity. From the descriptive point of view, this head shows part of the iconographic signs characteristic of Buddhist characters who have reached the degree of absolute enlightenment or nirvana. The hair gathered in a bun, the usnisha or symbol of enlightenment between the eyebrows, the markedly arched eyebrows, the lengthening of the lobes, are part of the traditional Buddhist iconography from India. However, this figure shows the process of assimilation that Buddhist artistic forms from India underwent in the development of Buddhist art in China. The first thing that calls the attention is how the ethnic features have undergone an important mutation, being observed in his slanted eyes, bulging eyelids, nose and small mouth, in an asexual face, with an expression of serene beauty as befits a Buddhist divinity. This transformation began during the Wei dynasty, the best examples being found in the grottoes of Yungang (Datong) and Longmen (Luoyang). This example in which the elongation and hieratism of the first figures of the Wei, has given way to a greater taste for volume and plastic expression, can be stylistically framed in what has been called “Tianlong shan style”, because it is in these caves – Tianlong shan – where sculptural characteristics have been found that show the transition between the art of Longmen and the great sanctuary of Dunhuang. I.C.F. / Extracted from: Isabel CERVERA FERNÁNDEZ: Fundación Rodríguez-Acosta. Asian Art Collection. Granada, 2002.