Prajnaparamita (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
The goddess Prajnaparamita is the embodiment of the text that shares her name. She holds her hands in the teaching mudra, but her key attribute—a book atop a lotus over her left shoulder—is now lost. Regarded as the “Mother of all Buddhas,” Prajnaparamita is the source of the omniscience shared by all enlightened beings. Though made a few hundred years later, this diminutive sculpture is modeled on eastern Indian precedents of the same period that produced the palm-leaf pages of her namesake text.
Gift of Berthe and John Ford
Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey toward Enlightenment, VMFA, Richmond, April 20-August 14, 2019; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, January 17 – November 29, 2020
"Intimate Rituals and Personal Devotions: Spiritual Art Through the Ages", Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, FL, August 12, 2000 - January 14, 2001
"Intimate Rituals and Personal Devotions: Spiritual Art Through the Ages", Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, FL, August 12, 2000 - January 14, 2001
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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