Head of Buddha

9th century · Sculpture

Can I see it?

Yes, on view now

Where is “Head of Buddha” now? Harvard Art Museums, Gallery 2460, floor 2, East Arcade, Cambridge. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.

Harvard Art Museums

Cambridge, United States

Room2460, floor 2, East Arcade

On public display.

Checked: 12 days ago
In this state since: Sep 27, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the sculpture

This magnificently carved head bears all the physical attributes of a Buddha: snail-shell curls representing closely shorn hair of a tonsured man; a cranial protuber-ance (ushnisha) rising from the top of the head, indicating his vast wisdom; a circular dot (urna) representing a tuft of hair between his brows; and earlobes elongated by heavy earrings, alluding to his origins as a prince in Lumbini, present-day Nepal. The elegantly arched brows, straight nose, and full lips evoke the influential art of the Gupta Empire, which ruled a large portion of the Indian subcontinent from the fourth to sixth centuries.

Read on

The figure’s broad forehead, rounded face, delicate smile, and smooth facial contours chiseled from a porous stone recall the Buddha sculptures at Borobudur—a monumental esoteric Buddhist temple complex in central Java that once held 504 Buddha statues. More than 300 are now damaged; many of the statues are missing heads, like this one collected in the 1930s. A rectangular appendage that extends from the back of the head and neck suggests this work came from an architectural context, like the niches on the lower levels of the structure, rather than from the freestanding Buddhas in the stupas on the upper levels.

Harvard Art Museums