Buddhist sculpture at V&A
Head of the Buddha, 300-400 AD Hadda, Afghanistan Stucco with pigment © V&A Images
As part of its ambitious FuturePlan programme, the V&A opens another new gallery, this time dedicated to Buddhist sculpture
The new Buddhist Sculpture Gallery – or Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Gallery to give its correct title – open on 29 April and features about 50 sculptures ranging from AD200 to the mid 19th century. From a wide range of geographic areas, they are displayed by region and show how Budddhist art developed in different areas of Asia. They also explore the spread of Buddhism and tell the story of the Buddha’s life.
It’s the first time these sculptures have been shown together in a dedicated gallery – in fact this is the first Buddhist sculpture gallery to be opened in the UK – and many of the pieces have never been on public view before. Highlights include the dramatic Mandalay Shrine ‘rescued’ from the now destroyed royal palace in Burma and which is displayed with the accompanying figures and offering vases. From China there’s a Tang dynasty marble torso of Buddha as well as a Buddha’s head that was originally carved into the rock face of a 6th-century temple complex in Xiangtangshan. Replicas of the sculptural reliefs at the famous temple of Borobudur represent Java and from Japan there’s a bronze figure of the Buddhist protector Fudo. The section on the Indian subcontinent includes a 19th century oil paintings from central India, a gilded figure of Bodhisatttva Padmapani from Nepal and stone and metal images from the Himalayas.
www.vam.ac.uk
