{"data":{"id":21023,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/21023","is_boosted":true,"title":"Buddha Shakyamuni Seated in Meditation (Dhyanamudra)","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhBAAFAPQAAFdNQ1xSR1BQUVhXVVpYVllaWllaW25jWWljXXFnXWNiYWVjYWxmYGhoaIN6coR8dIiEgYmFggAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAEAAUAAAURoEAMQoEwRnMkjQIEC\/Q4UQgAOw==","width":5085,"height":6356,"alt_text":"Dark stone sculpture of Buddha sitting cross-legged, hands in lap, eyes closed."},"main_reference_number":"1964.556","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":3,"date_start":1101,"date_end":1200,"date_display":"Chola period, about 12th century","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"India\nNagapattinam, Tamil Nadu","place_of_origin":"Nagapattinam","description":"<p>This meditating Buddha comes from the coastal town of Nagapattinam in southern India, which was, as a result of settlers from Srivijaya (Indonesia), one of the few places where Buddhism was still flourishing in the twelfth century. The Buddha\u2014with his elongated earlobes, the wheel marks on his palms, the <em>urna<\/em> between his brows, and the cranial protuberance covered with snail-shell curls\u2014is seated in the posture of meditation, with his hands resting on his lap <em>(dhyanamudra)<\/em>, wearing a seemingly diaphanous monastic garment. As in other images from Nagapattinam, a flame emerges out of the Buddha\u2019s cranial protuberance, probably signifying wisdom. This monumental granite sculpture originally would have graced a monastic site at Nagapattinam, which is also well known for its Buddhist bronzes. The Tamil inscription covering its back is no longer legible.<\/p>\n","short_description":"Seated in a posture called the lotus, this serene 12th-century Buddha rests his hands and feet atop one another as he gazes downward, his eyelids lowered, the touch of a smile on his lips. The symbols that distinguish him as a great being\u2014such as the <em>urna<\/em> on his forehead and <em>ushnisha<\/em> on top of his head\u2014are delicately carved in the hard granite.","dimensions":"160 \u00d7 120.2 \u00d7 56.3 cm (63 \u00d7 47 5\/16 \u00d7 22 3\/16 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":56,"width":120,"height":160,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Granite","inscriptions":null,"credit_line":"Purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrew Brown","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"The Essential Guide, rev. ed. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2013) p. 117.\n\nThe Essential Guide, rev. ed. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2009) p. 103.\n\nThe Essential Guide, Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2003-2004 pp. 88-9, and 1993, pp. 88-9.\n\nPratapaditya Pal, \"Sculptures from South India in Art Institute of Chicago\", (Art Institute of Chicago: 1996), Museum Studies, Vol. 22, No. 1, p. 33, fig. 15.\n\nVidya Dehejia, The Persistence of Buddhism in Tamil Nadu, A Pot-Pourri of Indian Art, (Marg Publications, Bombay, 1988) pp. 53-74 and p. 70, fig. 19. \n\nRecent Acquisitions of Asian Art by American Museums, Archives of Asian Art, 1965, p. 75, fig 3.\n\nArchives of the Chinese Art Society of America, vol. 19 (University of Hawai'i Press for the Asia Society, 1964), p. 75, fig. 3","exhibition_history":null,"provenance_text":"Sold to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrew Brown, Chicago, Ill., by Mr. William H. Wolff, William H. Wolff Incorporated, New York, September 1964; restricted gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrew Brown to the Art Institute of Chicago, September 16, 1964.","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":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":11.9971,"color":{"h":164,"l":82,"s":0,"percentage":0.06640240759373431,"population":590},"latitude":41.8795874888153,"longitude":-87.622937522829,"latlon":"41.879587488815,-87.622937522829","is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"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","PC-837"],"category_titles":["Arts of Asia","Essentials","Arts of Asia 100"],"term_titles":["granite (rock)","stone (unidentified)","sculpting","Buddha","South Asian","stone","stone","sculpture","asian art","chola"],"style_id":"TM-5344","style_title":"South Asian","alt_style_ids":["TM-5442"],"style_ids":["TM-5344","TM-5442"],"style_titles":["South Asian","chola"],"classification_id":"TM-268","classification_title":"stone (unidentified)","alt_classification_ids":["TM-96","TM-13","TM-26"],"classification_ids":["TM-268","TM-96","TM-13","TM-26"],"classification_titles":["stone (unidentified)","stone","sculpture","asian art"],"subject_id":"TM-12133","alt_subject_ids":[],"subject_ids":["TM-12133"],"subject_titles":["Buddha"],"material_id":"TM-2552","alt_material_ids":["TM-2434"],"material_ids":["TM-2552","TM-2434"],"material_titles":["granite (rock)","stone"],"technique_id":"TM-12999","alt_technique_ids":[],"technique_ids":["TM-12999"],"technique_titles":["sculpting"],"theme_titles":["Essentials","Arts of Asia 100"],"image_id":"0675f9a9-1a7b-c90a-3bb6-7f7be2afb678","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"Buddha Shakyamuni Seated in Meditation (Dhyanamudra)","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1964.556"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Buddha Shakyamuni Seated in Meditation (Dhyanamudra)"],"weight":30401,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-06-23T15:54:46-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-01T20:56:20-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-01T23:15:41-05:00"},"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":"1.15"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}