The Buddhas and Divinities of the Museum of Oriental Art - Ca' Pesaro in Venice

Myrobolan Buddha Venice's Museum of Oriental Art displays several statues of Asian deities, including a number of Budddhas.

Standing Buddha with a Myrobolan plum

Statue - Lacquered and gilded wood, Thayo decoration (155 x 73x 28 cm) 20th century - Burma

A very beautiful and large Buddha standing on a lotus flower wears the monastic robe, the pleating of which, bordered by magnificent embroidery, elegantly hugs the verticality of his body.

His left hand spreads a flap of his garment, while he holds a fruit of the myrobolan plum tree in the other hand.

This fruit, known for its healing virtues, was offered to Buddha by Indra, the king of the gods and Lord of Heaven in Indian mythology.

A statue of Buddha carrying this fruit often represents the “Doctor Buddha”.

Protecting deity of the Hayagrva doctrine (Horse's head or neck)

Statue - Bronze, Mercury gilding (10 x 10.5 x 5cm) 19th-20th century - Tibet

Protective deity of the Hayagrva doctrine (Horse head or neck) Tibet - Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Protective deity of the Hayagrva doctrine This image depicts the protector of the Hindu doctrine Hayagrva which can be translated as “Head or neck of a horse” : a type of statue very popular in Tibet and China from the seventeenth century, up to and including the twentieth century.

This protector is represented in the guise of a ferocious figure with three faces surmounted by horse heads emerging from his messy hair.

He has six arms brandishing weapons, but the present statue, damaged, now shows only the hilt of a sword whose blade is missing.

The Goddess Palden Lhamo

Statue - Bronze, Mercury gilding, Pigments (14 x 13.5 x 6cm) 1780-1850 - Tibet

The Goddess Palden Lhamo is a Buddhist version of the goddess Kali, daughter of the angry gods, depicted here in her terrifying aspect.

The Goddess Palden Lhamo She is the only woman among the “Eight Guardians of the Law”.

Originally malevolent, she was converted and integrated into the Buddhist pantheon by becoming the protector of the doctrine, as well as the personal protector of the Dalai Lama.

She is depicted with hanging breasts, skulls in her hair and severed heads hanging from her belt.

Her right arm raised brandishes a mace from which emerges the torso and head of a man, while her left hand holds the cap of a human skull which serves as a bowl containing the blood of her enemies.

Buddha seated in lotus (Southeast Asia) Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Buddha seated in lotus The goddess Palden Lhamo rides a trotting mule merrily straddling a lake of blood surrounded by iron mountains, and parts of human bodies can be seen emerging from the boiling waters.

Nice, isn't it ?

Sitting Buddha in lotus

Statue - Gilded bronze (50cm high) 17th-19th century - Southeast Asia

At the museum, you can admire the grace and serenity of this Meditating Buddha seated in a lotus, in gilded bronze and decorated with small coloured glass mirrors.

Standing Buddha under a triple canopy

Statue - Gilt bronze (68cm high) 17th-19th century - Southeast Asia
Just as beautiful, another Buddha is also in one of the display cases, this time depicted standing under a triple baldachin.

Sakyamuni Buddha

Statue - Gilded bronze (39.5cm high) 19th century - Thailand.
In the same display case, the statuette of a Sakyamuni Buddha presenting, during the first sermon, a branch of the bodhi tree symbolising enlightenment and awakening through meditation and asceticism, with small statuettes of his disciples at his feet.

Buddha standing under a triple canopy (Southeast Asia) Ca' Pesaro Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, Italy

Triple canopy Buddha

Sakyamuni Buddha

Divinity with 10 arms astride a bull

Statue - Gilded bronze (61cm high) 17th-19th century - Southeast Asia
In the same display case is a powerful 10-armed deity astride a bull and beneath a triple baldachin.

Khmer divinity

Statue - Basalt (82,5cm) 17th century - Cambodia
In contrast to the goddess Palden Lhamo, this bust is a image of wisdom, calm and serene of a peaceful being sketching a smile on her thick and beautifully drawn lips.

10-armed divinity

Khmer divinity

Seated Buddhist Monk

Buddhas and divinities