The Monk Buddhashri

This is a ‘portrait’ bronze of an eminent teacher of the late 12th century. Buddhashri has one hand raised in the gesture of exposition, vitarkhamudra. In the other he holds a religious manuscript. Although some features of the actual person depicted may be included in stylised form in such a bronze, this is not a portrait in the strict sense. The image belongs to a sizeable group of ‘portrait’ bronzes with inscriptions, produced from the 15th to the 17th century.