NÉPAL, XVÈME-XVIÈME SIÈCLE

This elegant sculpture depicts the moment when Buddha Shakyamuni achieves enlightenment: Having withstood the celestial king Mara’s temptations, the Buddha sits under the Bodhi tree in meditation as Mara’s armies make a final attempt at upstaging him. In his deep introspective state, Buddha touches the ground with a single finger and calls upon the earth to witness his enlightenment and ward off Mara’s armies.
The ushnisha or cranial protuberance of the Buddha has traces of ultramarine blue, an expensive pigment made from crushed lapis lazuli. This particular detail suggests that although this gilt-bronze figure was made and Nepal, it likely made its way to Tibet, as the application of blue pigments to the ushnisha was a uniquely Tibetan custom.