Seated Bodhisattva with One Leg Pendent

Limestone/ Excavated from the Fengxiansi Temple Site, Tang dynasty/
Overall H. 70.5 cm; Fig. H. 46.7 cm/ Longmen Caves Research Institute
This bodhisattva sits with right leg folded up with the left leg pendent, while the left arm is lowered with left hand resting palm down on the left knee. This figural iconography and the format of this pedestal are the same as those on the image displayed here as cat. No. 47. However, here the image's topknot spreads into a wide, scallop-shell shape and the handling of the slightly elongated face and the body do not have the sense of tension-filled handling of mass or the drapery carving seen on cat. No. 47. Overall, this image has a sense of relaxed maturity and calm demeanor. Judging from these formal characteristics, this sculpture can be surmised to have been created in the first half of the 8th century, a bit later than the date of cat. No. 47.