China, Xizang Zizhiqu, Tibet, about 1600s
Bodhisattva Manjushri
Gilt bronze
7 x 4 x 3 inches
Gift of the Jaipaul Family, 2002.
2002.034.008

A bodhisattva is a being, worshiped in the Buddhist religion, who delays his entry into Nirvana, staying in the world to help others achieve enlightenment. Bodhisattva Manjushri is associated with wisdom. He can be identified by his attributes: the flaming sword in his right hand, which cuts through ignorance; and the book, which symbolizes wisdom. In this seventeenth-century bronze from eastern Tibet the book rests within a complexly twining lotus that bodhisattva Manjushri grasps by the stem.