{"data":{"id":111380,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/111380","is_boosted":true,"title":"Seated Bodhisattva","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhBAAFAPQAAE9PT09QUGZZS2hcUGpoZW1san54c399e5B\/bIF6dIt\/coKAfYSBf4OCgJqSi6Kak6epqqipq7q6ur\/AwQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAEAAUAAAURIFAQAfQ4kYQo0yEMzZIYTAgAOw==","width":1776,"height":2250,"alt_text":"Seated wooden Buddha statue with with forefinger touching thumb."},"main_reference_number":"1962.356","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":770,"date_end":780,"date_display":"8th century","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Japan","place_of_origin":"Japan","description":"<p>This rare and important sculpture represents a Buddhist bodhisattva, or <em>bosatsu<\/em>, an enlightened and compassionate being who postponed Buddhahood in order to help save others. Calm, stately, and full-bodied, the <em>bosatsu<\/em> is seated in a frontal, meditative pose; his gracefully held hands, raised midair, make a gesture of assurance. Buddhism, which originated in India with the teachings of the Buddha Sakyamuni, or Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563-c. 483 B.C.), was named the official religion of Japan at the beginning of the eighth century by the Emperor Shomu (701-56). This small, finely crafted lacquer figure is the only Buddhist sculpture outside Japan that is firmly attributed to the influential sculpture workshop of Todai-ji, the largest and most prestigious of the great state-sponsored Buddhist temples built during the Nara period. This sculpture represents a dramatic shift in Japanese sculptural tradition\u2014a move away from the expensive, time-consuming technique of using lacquer (a resin extracted from the sap of a tree) over a temporary clay core that, once removed, left a sculpture that was completely hollow except for perhaps a wood bracing system. Here a sculpted wood core is overlaid with lacquer-soaked cloth. The innovative sculptors at the Nara temple modeled the wet and pliable surface of the cloth to create fine details such as facial features and jewelry. Finally the sculpture was gilt; traces of gold remain on the bodhisattva's face and chest.<\/p>\n","short_description":"This small, finely crafted lacquer figure represents a Buddhist bodhisattva, or <em>bosatsu<\/em>, an enlightened and compassionate being who postponed Buddhahood in order to help save others. Calm, stately, and full-bodied, the <em>bosatsu<\/em> is seated in a meditative pose; his gracefully held hands, raised midair, make a gesture of assurance. This sculpture was originally gilt; traces of gold remain on the bodhisattva's face and chest.","dimensions":"61 \u00d7 43.2 \u00d7 32.3 cm (24 \u00d7 17 \u00d7 12 3\/4 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":32,"width":43,"height":61,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Wood core, dry lacquer, traces of gold leaf","inscriptions":"Nara period","credit_line":"Kate S. Buckingham Endowment","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"\"Studies on Old Art Objects Through Optical Methods\" Insitute of Art Research, Tokyo, 1955.\n\nKokka No. 824, 1960.\n\nChinese Art Society of American Museums, 1962.\n\nMayuyama Junkichi.  Japanese Art in the West.  Tokyo: Mayuyama and Co., Ltd., 1966, fig. 7 page 8.\n\nNara National Museum, Nihon bukky\u00f4 bijutsu meih\u00f4ten, 1995.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago: Essential Guide, rev. ed. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2009) p.92 and back cover.\n\nJames N. Wood, \"The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide, Revised Edition\" (Art Institute of Chicago, 2003), p. 74","exhibition_history":"SOC-9148 \"100th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition\" Nara, Japan 4\/22\/95-6\/4\/95.","provenance_text":null,"edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":8,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":true,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":17.2496,"color":{"h":38,"l":62,"s":0,"percentage":0.30255774587815054,"population":2724},"latitude":41.8794432026667,"longitude":-87.6233639940619,"latlon":"41.879443202667,-87.623363994062","is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":"Gallery 102","gallery_id":2147478133,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Sculpture","artwork_type_id":3,"department_title":"Arts of Asia","department_id":"PC-7","artist_id":null,"artist_title":null,"alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[],"artist_titles":[],"category_ids":["PC-7","PC-831"],"category_titles":["Arts of Asia","Essentials"],"term_titles":["wood","Buddhism","lacquer","sculpting","Japanese (culture or style)","wood (plant material)","sculpture","asian art","religion","nara"],"style_id":"TM-13407","style_title":"Japanese (culture or style)","alt_style_ids":["TM-5212"],"style_ids":["TM-13407","TM-5212"],"style_titles":["Japanese (culture or style)","nara"],"classification_id":"TM-84","classification_title":"wood","alt_classification_ids":["TM-13","TM-26"],"classification_ids":["TM-84","TM-13","TM-26"],"classification_titles":["wood","sculpture","asian art"],"subject_id":"TM-12131","alt_subject_ids":["TM-11421"],"subject_ids":["TM-12131","TM-11421"],"subject_titles":["Buddhism","religion"],"material_id":"TM-2543","alt_material_ids":["TM-2431"],"material_ids":["TM-2543","TM-2431"],"material_titles":["lacquer","wood (plant material)"],"technique_id":"TM-12999","alt_technique_ids":[],"technique_ids":["TM-12999"],"technique_titles":["sculpting"],"theme_titles":["Essentials"],"image_id":"1d30ac4e-c91c-d91d-705f-acdce9e6efb4","alt_image_ids":["9deb70a4-ff66-8b64-de56-7e5eb750d59d","2a7b693a-5889-1890-6e7e-f4a8e9dff97e"],"document_ids":["fb2b36b4-ff08-7acf-cbae-8a15b1f97ef2"],"sound_ids":["fb2b36b4-ff08-7acf-cbae-8a15b1f97ef2"],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"Seated Bodhisattva","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1962.356"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Seated Bodhisattva"],"weight":9295,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-05-21T10:55:01-05:00","updated_at":"2026-10-01T20:23:32-05:00","timestamp":"2026-10-19T17:04:22-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.16"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}