Buddha, the golden legend

Buddha, the golden legend, conference visit by Sylvie Ahmadian, lecturer at the Guimet Museum.

The life of the historical Buddha is punctuated with historical facts but also miracles and fabulous events, symbolic in nature and intended to magnify it. Also, with the spread of Buddhism in many Asian countries has developed a rich iconography that can illustrate and unfold - through sculptures, bas-reliefs and paintings of various styles - the life of Him who wanted to free men and whose doctrine today illuminates a large part of humanity.

Conceived in a transversal mode, the exhibition confronts works from different cultural areas of Asia and reveals similarities and disparities. Articulated around the great "miracles" of the life of the Blessed One (birth, Awakening, first sermon, access to nirvana), the exhibition highlights the richness of iconographic and stylistic traditions and allows you to admire a representative set of works that , from the collections of the Musée Guimet, illustrate episodes from the exemplary and edifying life of the founder of Buddhism.