Cross-Legged on the Rock

Viewing notes

A viewer's written impression — not a buyer review or first-hand record

This copper-toned figure sits cross-legged on a rocky platform, the cloth beneath him spilling slowly over the edge of the stone. The old monk is bald with long earlobes; his chest is half bared, ribs and the lines of the belly carved one by one. His right hand rests loosely on his knee, while the left is lifted gently before his chest, fingertips slightly curled, like a sentence stopped halfway. A long robe passes over one shoulder and gathers in rolling layers of folds before his legs. His aged face, eyes narrowed to slits, holds neither sorrow nor joy. With no aureole or lotus throne competing for attention, all the weight falls on the body itself — lean, yet seated with complete steadiness. It belongs quietly in a study or a place of retreat, keeping company while a restless mind slowly gathers itself back.