A Buddhist Deity Returns to Boston

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Eva Kahn
A wooden Guanyin deity, about 900 years old, will return to view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Credit Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Buddhist deity sculpture, absent from the galleries at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for 17 years, will go back on view there next month after undergoing analyses and treatments throughout its gilded surface. This deity, Guanyin, which embodies compassion, was carved about 900 years ago from a tree trunk. Nearly six feet tall, the figure is seated in a casual pose, with its glass eyes facing downward and one leg dangling as though being dipped in a pool of water. The underlying legend is that the deity was gazing at a reflection of the moon in the water. [link]