Bosatsu, Japan, Heian period (794–1185), late 12th century. Wood with gilding. H x W x D: 98 x 75 x 50.8 cm. Freer Gallery of Art Collection, National Museum of Asian Art (F1962.21a-c) © Smithsonian Institution 

Japanese sculptors of Buddhist images overwhelmingly preferred to work in wood. In this medium, they produced images ranging in size from monumental guardians for temple gateways to miniature devotional images for portable shrines. This wood sculpture represents a bodhisattva (enlightened being) who is seated on a lotus-shaped throne. The halo behind the figure, which signifies light surrounding the deity, still shows traces of goldleaf decoration. This figure would have been placed on the altar of a Buddhist temple and shows the simple, elegant style prevalent in Japanese Buddhist sculpture of the Heian period (794–1185), which developed under the patronage of the aristocracy.