Meditating Buddha Attended by Two Bodhisattvas, Pakistan (Swat Valley), 7th–8th century. Marble. H. 56.5 cm, W. 57.8 cm, D. 12.7 cm. Gift of Evelyn Kossak, The Kronos Collections, 1995, 1995.570.2. © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Buddha sits in a posture of meditation (dhyana mudra) with his head framed by a flaming halo. Both of the flanking bodhisattvas hold their right hands in the boon-giving varada mudra. The Buddha sits on a throne supported by two fragmentary lions similar to those found in metal images made for the Patola Shahi rulers of the kingdom of Gilgit. Two figures in the lower corners are likely the donors of this relief. Devotional images, such as this one, are most widely preserved as rock-cut reliefs on boulders along the highways of the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan.