The Northern Qi dynasty was one of the most vibrant periods in the history of Chinese art, both religious and secular, as its openness towards foreigners, their ideas, beliefs and goods, immensely enriched the local cultural climate. Buddhist sculpture experienced perhaps its most glorious moment in this period. While in the Northern Wei period, manners of depiction had only just been adapted from their south and central Asian prototypes, in the Northern Qi they had matured and developed into native styles. Yet, they still emanate the seriousness of strong religious beliefs and had not yet moved towards the pleasant and more decorative imagery of the Tang dynasty.

It is extremely rare to find a marble head of the Buddha of this fine quality. Sensitively defined with an expression of deep serenity, this head is related to sculptures recovered from a hoard at the Longxing Temple in Qingzhou, Shandong province, where Buddha heads in many different variations were found; compare, for example, the Northern Qi heads illustrated in Qingzhou Longxingsi fojiao zaoxiang yishu/Buddhist imagery art at Longxing Temple of Qingzhou, Ji'nan, 1999, pls 118-121; and others included in the exhibition Masterpieces of Buddhist Statuary from Qingzhou City, National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, 1999, p. 121. Compare also a marble head of the Buddha in the Hoppenot collects ion, Paris, illustrated by Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Chinese Art, New York, 1980, pl. 118; another head illustrated in Osvald Sirén, Ars Asiatica, vol. VII, pl. LVI, no. 641. Another similar example was sold in our New York rooms, 22nd September 2005, lot 16. See also a Northern Qi limestone Buddha head with comparable facial features in the collects ion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, cat. no. A12 (fig. 1).

縱觀中國藝術史，北齊時期無論在宗教、世俗方面，均呈現出一派氣象鬱勃之景象，因兼容並蓄外族及其文化、思想、信仰而致本土風貌大為充盈。佛教造像之輝煌成就在此一朝可謂登峰造極。北魏時期，造像手法惟承南亞、中亞範式，時至北齊乃臻成熟，自成一格。然鑑觀北齊造像，仍顯虔敬莊嚴，慈靜平和，尚未見唐代造像明快、婀娜之態。

此北齊大理石雕佛頭像，工藝尤為精湛，五官輪廓柔和細膩，面相慈悲，不失莊嚴，尤為珍罕。山東青州龍興寺窖藏起出塑像，其中有各式佛首，可資比對，其中有北齊例子，圖載於《青州龍興寺佛教造像藝術》，濟南，1999年，圖版118-121。另有數例，展於《山東青州龍興寺出土佛教石刻造像精品》，中國歷史博物館，北京，1999年，頁121。巴黎 Hoppenot 收藏中，且有一大理石雕佛頭像，圖見 Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt，《Chinese Art》，紐約，1980年，圖版118。另見喜龍仁所載之例，收錄在《Ars Asiatica》，卷7，圖版16，編號641。紐約蘇富比也曾拍出一例，與此有共通之處，2005年9月22日，編號16。紐約大都會藝術博物館且有一北齊石灰岩雕佛首，面相五官與此相類﹐見 Denise Patry Leidy 及 Donna Strahan，《Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art》，紐約，2010年，編號A12（圖一）。