佛像网

尺寸：H. 57.8 cm x W. 33.7 cm x 16.8 cm
年代：北齐天保二年(551年)
质地：大理石
风格：中原
来源：旧金山亚洲艺术博物馆
参阅：外部链接
鉴赏：
发愿文未详，当亦为曲阳所产。二双树下思惟菩萨、双树枝叶纤缠而成光背状，正中为一单层宝塔，此种石造像是北齐时曲阳地区流行的一种程式化样式。

馆藏思维弥勒像虽运用成规的造像碑格式和构图，但设计制作别具一格。用镂空技法雕出一庭园背景，为白色的大理石作品更增添了一种清新和轻盈的视觉效果。弥勒左脚踩莲座，半跏趺坐于两棵大树之间。树干有龙盘绕，两树枝叶相缠构成圆拱形背屏，又有四飞天簇拥一方塔于中央。这些细节是弥勒经典形象的描绘，弥勒在龙华树下成佛，方塔即释迦牟尼的舍利塔。莲座和方塔象征弥勒是释迦佛的继承人。弥勒脸形方圆，戴头冠和璎珞，躯干和四肢分明，肩臂圆润，薄裙贴体。两旁有胁侍菩萨，腹部前凸，一腿侧立，膝盖略弯，作稍息站势，开启了后代菩萨形体造型的新风尚。人物造型是汉化和受印度笈多佛雕风格影响的产物。此尊造像是北齐时期题材和雕刻巧妙结合的典范。

Seated bodhisattva Maitreya with attendants

In 535 almost the entire population of the Northern Wei capital Luoyang in Henan province was moved to southern Hebei province. This area immediately became a leading center of Buddhist art and thought. One of the many figures worshiped there was Maitreya, the buddha of the future, in his bodhisattva state. Maitreya was important to the Chinese at this time since, by their calculation, the influence of Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, would come to an end in 552 and the world would enter into a period lacking in Buddhist law or influence (mofa). Since this piece is dated 551, this abrupt loss would have been considered imminent.

Maitreya is shown here as a youthful, attractive prince, with one hand to his cheek in contemplation. He sits beneath a dragon flower tree (identified as such by the dragons entwined on the trunks) that bears a representation of his paradise. The fine-grained white marble of this sculpture comes from the Taihang mountains in Dingzhou, Hebei province. This area was the source of much of the freestanding stone sculpture of the Northern Qi dynasty and later eras. Small-scale images of donors are painted on the side and back of the base. The inscription on the bottom and back is consistent with the meaning of the sculpture: a wish that all sentient beings gain enlightenment.

公元535年，北魏都城洛阳（今河南省）的人口几乎全部被迁往河北南部。这一地区迅速成为佛教艺术与思想的中心。当地供奉的众多造像中，便有未来佛——弥勒（Maitreya）的菩萨身相。弥勒在当时对中国人尤为重要，因为根据其推算，释迦牟尼佛（历史上的佛陀）的法运将于552年终结，世界将进入无佛法的“末法”时期。此像制作于551年，故这种法运骤失的危机已迫在眉睫。

此处的弥勒呈现为一位年轻俊美的王子，一手托腮，作思维状。他坐于一棵龙华树之下（树名源自缠绕树干的龙纹），树上描绘着弥勒净土。这尊造像所用细粒白色大理石，产自河北省定州的太行山区。该地区是北齐及以后历代大量单体石雕的重要来源。基座侧面与背面绘有小型供养人像。底部与背面的铭文与造像意图一致：祈愿一切众生皆得觉悟。