Ascetic Holding a Skull
Unknown Artist
c. 500 CE
Medium
gilt bronze
Dimensions
h. 19.4 cm · figure: h. 18.1 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1980.25
About this artwork
The figure holding the skull has been identified as Mrgasirsa, who sought Buddha’s teaching on how to determine the karma and transmigration of the arhats. Mrgasirsa appears with Vasistha in some of the wall paintings of the Mogao grottoes in Dunhuang.