Standing Buddha - Sri Lanka - Kingdom of Kandy / Bronze / stylistic influence of Polonnaruwa - Standing Buddha on - Kandyan period 18th - 19th century

This 32 cm high bronze sculpture comes from the Kingdom of Kandy (Sri Lanka) and is dated to the eighteenth–nineteenth century. It represents a standing Buddha in a frontal pose, following the conventional iconographic repertoire of Sinhalese Buddhist art from this period.

The figure wears the monastic robe arranged to cover only the left shoulder. The surface of the fabric features a relief of continuous wavy lines that simulate the drapery of the mantle down to the ankles.

On the head, the image displays the usual features of Buddhist iconography: elongated eyes, stretched ear lobes, and a cranial protuberance (ushnisha) crowned by the siraspata, a flame-shaped ornament symbolizing spiritual knowledge.

The position of the arms combines two gestures: the right arm raised to chest height with the palm facing outward in the Abhaya Mudra, while the left arm remains extended downward along the body. The figure rests on a circular plinth engraved with motifs of a double lotus flower. Its format and dimensions are characteristic of pieces intended for domestic altars as well as for places of worship.