It is a hard question, like asking which child is your most loved. However, if I have to make the choice, it would have to be the Tang dynasty stone sculpture of Bodhisattva—the Buddha of the Future—in Gallery 101.
China
The Buddha of the Future, or Maitreya in Sanskrit, is one of the enlightened beings who have postponed entry into nirvana (the cycle of death and rebirth) in order to help all sentient beings toward salvation. Significantly, Maitreya is the bodhisattva who is prophesied to be the next Buddha, descending to earth from the Tushita heaven to lead humanity anew.
A popular image in East Asian iconography, Maitreya is often depicted adorned with jewelry and a headdress, sitting in a pensive position with a contemplative expression, the finger of the left hand touching his cheek as a gesture of meditation.
The Bodhisattva of the Future, on the left, installed in the Art Institute’s Gallery 101 with two other significant Tang dynasty sculptures: Buddha (Shakyamuni) in the center and the Bodhisattva of Transcendental Wisdom (Manjushri) on the far right.
The Art Institute of Chicago’s stone sculpture of Bodhisattva dates to the Tang dynasty (618–907) and can rightly claim to be among the finest and rarest Asian stone sculptures in any American museum. Unfortunately, the left arm no longer has its hand, and we do not have a full picture of how the missing hand was placed in its original form.
Such losses of limbs and appendages are, of course, not uncommon for ancient sculpture. When the world-famous Roman sculpture Laocoön and His Sons, now in the Vatican Museum, was first unearthed from a vineyard in 1506, Laocoön himself was also missing an arm. An informal competition was called to see who could come up with the best arm restoration of the sculpture, and the day’s top sculptors took part.
Laocoön and His Sons, Hellenistic period (323 BCE–31 CE), late 2nd century BCE–early 1st century CE
Vatican Museum. Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons
Laocoön, 16th–17th century
Princeton University Museum, Museum purchase, gift of Elias Wolf, Class of 1920, and Mrs. Wolf
Michelangelo thought that the missing arm should be bent back as if Laocoön were trying to tear the giant sea serpents from his body, while Jacopo Sansovino suggested an outstretched arm—a more heroic gesture. Raphael, as the judge, was in favor of the latter, and an outstretched arm made by Giovanni Antonio Montorsoli, a pupil of Michelangelo, was later added to the ancient work.
By utter chance, in 1906, the original arm was discovered in a nearby site, and unlike the 16th-century replacement, the original is bent backward, just as Michelangelo had proposed. (The image above in fact shows the original bent arm reattached to the sculpture.)
While we are not going to have the top artists of our day compete to determine the shape of our Bodhisattva’s hand, nor are we likely to stumble upon the original, we do have significant archaeological and art historical studies to mine for our recreation.
Pensive Bodhisattva, Kushan period (30 CE–375 CE), 3rd century
Ashmolean Museum
The earliest Buddhist art comes from Gandhara, in today’s Pakistan and Afghanistan, where local Buddhism was under Hellenistic influence from the 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE. Gandharan representations of the meditating Budhha have him sitting in a pensive position, his fingers lightly touching his cheek.
Meditating Bodhisattva, Northern Wei period (386–534 CE), 5th century
Yungang Grottoes, China
This gesture survived in Chinese Buddhist art during the Northern Wei and succeeding periods (4th–7th century). But, in the early Tang dynasty, a more Chinese style emerged, stemming from the Dilun sect of Buddhism that emphasized meditation in the Tushita heaven. Maitreya from this time are typically shown in a position of meditation (siwei pusa), with the upper torso leaning sideways and the fingers gracefully pointing at his temple.
Pensive Bodhisattva, Tang dynasty (618–907), 7th–9th century
Shanghai Museum, Shanghai
This sculpture is only 11 centimeters tall.
Pensive Bodhisattva, Three Kingdoms period, 6th–7th century
Korean National Museum, Seoul, National Treasure 83
This work is a much larger example, at over 90 centimeters.
While few Tang dynasty examples—in metal, clay, or stone—survive from this time, our meditating Bodhisattva is particularly rare as it’s the only remaining large example in stone and its carefully finished back suggests that it was originally viewed in the round. Much like the ancient Roman Laocoön, its missing arm could be in different gestures and remains a puzzle. The reconstruction of the original form not only demands accurate human anatomy, but also artistic imagination.
During a trip to Italy last year, I was able to make plans to recreate our Tang Bodhisattva with its arm reinstated with Ten X, one of the leading robotic sculpture studios based in Carrara, where the ancient Roman and Renaissance sculptors obtained their marbles.
A robot completes the initial stages of carving.
One of Ten X studio artists completes the final touches.
The reconstruction of the sculpture began first with a 3D digital model of the sculpture in its current state. We then made two study models in white marble—one with the hand bent in at the wrist and the first two fingers pointing toward his temple and one with the hand bent out and the pads of two first fingers touching his temple.
Study model A, with the hand bent inward
Study model B, with the hand bent out
These two studies will be presented this month (March 2025) in Hong Kong and then in China for Buddhist scholars, art historians, and artists to discuss and determine the best solution for the reconstruction.
Two Very different hand gestures
The final finished Bodhisattva will be produced in a pink marble and will eventually be displayed along with the original sculpture in the museum’s gallery, allowing today’s audiences to experience the maker’s original intention and to appreciate the artistic excellence, beauty, and spirituality of this iconic masterpiece.
I look forward to the discussions that our two models will prompt over the next months and to share with all how this project continues, quite literally, to take shape. (In the meantime, if you’re looking to experience how ancient sculpture has been restored in centuries past, be sure to stop by the museum to see Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection.)
—Tao Wang, Pritzker Chair, Arts of Asia; Curator of Chinese Art; and Executive Director of Initiatives in Asia
This project is made possible by the generosity of Han Kim and his family. Cofounder and partner of Altos Ventures, Kim grew up in Chicago and continues to support initiatives that amplify the vibrancy of our dynamic city.
