尺寸：49.53 x 27.94 x 9.52 cm
年代：9世纪
质地：黑石雕
风格：东北印度 帕拉
来源：洛杉矶艺术博物馆
参阅：洛杉矶艺术博物馆
鉴赏：
这尊黑片岩石碑可能原本安装在东印度某座砖砌寺庙的外壁龛中。拱顶下方的中央主尊是大乘佛教中超越性智慧（prajña）菩萨——文殊菩萨。此处他被表现为一位少年，称为文殊童子（Mañjuśikumāra，意为“妙相庄严的童子或王子”）。在这一化相中，他佩戴着被认为能够护佑孩童的虎爪项链。他头戴宝冠，佩戴华美的珠宝，左肩垂下婆罗门圣线（圣纽），身着带有雅致纹饰的围腰裙（dhoti），腰间系有飘动的腰带。他的右手结 abhaya mudra。左手持一枝蓝莲花，花顶托有其标识——一部神圣经函。左手倚靠在一个侏儒的头上，该侏儒代表其拟人化的武器（ayudha purusha），即一把用于斩断无明之雾的宝剑（亦参见藏品号 M.82.95.1）。拱形壁龛两侧各有一座小型佛塔（舍利塔）。建筑构架包含标准元素，上层有“牛眼窗”（gavaksha），两侧为置于水罐中的立柱，并饰有辟邪的“荣光面”（kirttimukha）。

This black schist stele may have been originally installed in an exterior niche of a brick temple in eastern India. The central figure under the archway depicts Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of transcendent wisdom (prajña) in Mahayana Buddhism. He is represented here as an adolescent known as Manjushikumara (youth or prince of pleasing appearance). In this form he wears a necklace of tiger claws believed to protect children. He is crowned and wears ornate jewelry, the Brahmanical sacred thread (yajnopavita) over his left shoulder, a dhoti with elegant patterns, and a swaying waist sash. His right hand is held in the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra). His left hand holds the stock of a blue lotus topped with his attribute of a sacred manuscript. It rests on the head of a dwarf representing his personified weapon (ayuydha purusha), which is a sword used to cut through the fog of ignorance (see also M.82.95.1). The arched niche is flanked by two small stupas (funerary monuments). The architecture consists of standard elements, including the “cow’s eye window” (gavaksha) in the upper register and the flanking columns set in water pots and graced with an apotropaic “face of glory” (kirttimukha).

著录:
Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Sculpture, vol.2. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1988.
Newman, Richard. The Stone Sculpture of India: a Study of the Materials Used by Indian Sculptors from ca. 2nd Century B.C. to the 16th Century. Cambridge, MA: Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard University Art Museums, 1984.
Little, Stephen, Tushara Bindu Gude, Karina Romero Blanco, Silvia Seligson, Marco Antonio Karam. Las Huellas de Buda. Ciudad de México : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.
Little, Stephen, and Tushara Bindu Gude. Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art across Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2025.

来源:
Gift of John MacDonald

馆藏号:
M.79.188