Kouros- The figure depicted in the picture above is known by the Greeks as a kouros, which means male youth. Kouroi are believed to have served as grave markers during the Archaic period. I noticed from the different statues that the Greeks purposely created a clear and simple pose for their works of art. Unlike the Guanyin statue, the Kouros seems to be walking, by having his left foot in front of his right. From this I inferred that the Greek artists wanted to display a lifelike vitality in their artwork. The Guanyin of Chinese art is actually very stiff and one can assume they are more stable.

Guanyin– The Chinese Guanyin statue has many contrasting aspects to the Kouros from Greece. Unlike the Kouros, who is fully nude, this Chinese work of art is wearing an immense amount of embroidered clothing and accessories. It is evident that the Chinese put a lot of stress of personal appearance as to show that the way one dressed correlated with their wealth and rank in society. The Guanyin statue seems a lot livelier because of its body shape. This differs from the Kouros, which is shown with a very skinny body shape and not much depth to their body.

Ultimately, both works of art have attributes that represent their individual nation’s believes and culture. They are both similar in that neither of the statues are sitting. My interpretation of this is that the artists of both cultures are very prideful and willing to show off what they believe represents the culture: the Kouros of Athenian Greece and Guanyin of Shanxi Province, China.

– Brian Kong

This piece is called the Marble Statue of a Kouros (youth).   The statue was made by the Greek around the years 590-580 B.C.  The piece shows to have been influenced by Egyptian art.  The stiff stance of the piece portrays the piece as not very realistic compared to the stance of an actual human.  The left foot of the figure is placed forward.  The head is straight up, arms are placed straight down very close to his sides.  The pattern in the hair is also non-realistic and again, an influence of Egyptian art. The stiff, non-humanistic stance contrasts with that of young Hercules.

This piece is called the Marble Statue of a Youthful Hercules.  This sculpture seems to contrast greatly when compared to the kouros.  In this sculpture, the figure of Hercules is portrayed with fluidity, making him appear more humanistic than the sculpture of kouros.  Hercules is portrayed with curly hair, a more realistic feature when compared to the geometric patterned hair of the kouros.  The figure is standing in a contrapposto stance.  He is leaning toward his left hip, giving off a sense of fluidity which contrasts the stiff, straight stance of the kouros.  The figure shows to have bent arms at his sides, versus the kouros who has both arms straight down and close to his sides.

This piece is called The All Knowing Buddha Vairochana.  The piece is made of brass alloy, gilt, traces of cold gold and pigment.  The use of such expensive materials suggests the nobility of the Buddha.  The figure is shown to be wearing a crown and jewelery which also imply that the figure is of nobility.  The Buddha has four heads as depicted in this piece.  He is sitting calm with his legs crossed, showing that he is at peace and flexible.  Nobility is again implied by the pedestal on which the figure sits.

The painting appears to have a significant religious meaning. It seems to have some kind of supernatural powers. The writings and the rays coming from the circular part makes it appear supernatural. It somehow associated with beliefs, as we can see; some people are praying facing a particular direction. The people are praying in a mountain implying that it is a holy place. It is also evident that people have different styles of worshipping, some look up, some face the ground and others kneeling down. Although all these distinctive styles, they are all worshipping the same deity. The writings on the painting looks like the commandments under which people of the same deity live in, they have to follow and do as the deity commands them.  

On Monday, November 17th, the rest of Manhattan sought refuge from the rain while I was fortunate enough to be visiting “The All-knowing Buddha,” an exhibit located in the Rubin Museum. While all of the pieces were memorable, one element of the exhibit that left a true impression was the statue of the Buddha Vairochana. After walking around the exhibit counter-clockwise, this was the last piece in the center of the hallway.
While everyone can view a piece of art in different ways, there were two details that drew my attention immediately: The four faces and the body positioning. Each of the four faces represent a different aspect of the deity while the face is expressing deep emotion yet appearing extremely relaxed. The powerful piece was made relatable by the inevitable struggle of possessing a hectic mind that materializes into an expected and at ease exterior.

During the class trip to the Rubin Museum, the artifact or piece of art that stood out the most to me was the statue of the Buddha Vairochana. The aforementioned statue is said to have been the center piece of an arrangement of Vairochana dieties located on a monumental stupa at Densathil, where many other sculptures are found. After examining the sculpture, I noticed that Buddha Vairochana was molded on top of a pedestal. Carved on the bottom at both sides are two lions. I believe these lions represent power, because lions are the king of the jungle, as well as knowledge, since the lions are looking up at him, both of which, Buddha Vairochana posses. Along with the lions, the abundance of jewels that cover Vairochana indicate an immense sense of wealth and in the description of the sculpture it states that he is situated on top of a wheel. The wheel and jewels can be associated with royalty. The first impression and overall message I got when I looked at the sculpture was that Buddha Vairochana was a very powerful, intelligent, and inspiring deity.

– Brian Kong

The fifty-four paintings were used to depict practices of the All-Knowing Buddha Vairochana. The process of rituals is explained through illustration since the paintings lack classifying captions. The fifty-four paintings have been divided into six groups based on the general outline of the ritual being portrayed. Above is a picture from the fourth group: contemplating the life of the Buddha. The paintings in this category depict the unusualness of the deeds of the Buddha. The specific painting I focused on shows miracles performed by the Buddha including: taming a wild elephant which led to the prevention of the schism of his followers, the miracle of multiplication where he converted five non-believers, and the miracle of a monkey giving him a bowl of honey upon which he announced his impending death. In the cultural context provided, the monkey is described as playful. This was one of the only paintings that reminded me of Monkey King. In the story Monkey, Monkey King is described as always standing up to authority and always creating some kind of mayhem. I found the announcement of the impending death of the monkey in the painting similar to the wager that the Buddha presented to Monkey King in chapter 7 of Monkey.

-Sara Neher

The picture above is a statue of Green Tara, who was a very popular female deity in Himalayan Buddhism.  Her role as a Goddess was that of a savioress, protecting people against “worldly dangers.” First thing we notice about the statue is that her legs are not both crossed in meditation, as we are used to seeing, but rather one is crossed while the other one extends forward. Another thing we notice is that she is wearing a crown, which possibly suggests power. So with power comes wealth which is probably why she is wearing a lot of jewelry, but we also know that jewelry in the culture represents beauty. What also caught my attention is how small her waist and breasts are compared to other statues of female deities.