Buddha statue of European/white likeness?

Question

Do Buddha statues exist that portray Buddha as a person of white or European likeness? Where would I find them?

(Not sure what other than "white" or "European" to call it; you are free to correct me.)

If not, why not?

(I would like to explain in a few words why I am asking that question, but find it difficult to pin down the right words. It has something to do with the feeling of familiarity or likeness, and just plain fun of entertaining the idea that the Buddha can look like all the other people that are typically around me all day long. Plus, whatever drives people to make cover versions of songs, just seen as a "cover version" of the typical Buddha statue.)

EDIT: Replaced the word "caucasian" with "white", because this should be less offensive.

Answer 1

My impression is the original Buddha statues were of Greek origin. Try google 'Greco-Buddhist art'.

The original Indian Buddhist art (below) did not depict a 'personal form' but usually showed a wheel, tree, footprint or empty space as a symbol of the Buddha. This is probably because the Buddha famously said:

"Enough, Vakkali! What is there to see in this vile body? He who sees Dhamma, Vakkali, sees me; he who sees me sees Dhamma. Truly seeing Dhamma, one sees me; seeing me one sees Dhamma."

Answer 2

Just to add to the above, it is unknown what the historical Buddha looked like, and it is a matter of debate if he was, indeed, one particular person. There are conjectures based on the Suttas and so on, but none of those are essentially good enough to make a strong conclusion on the subject.

So the ordinary response has been to make him look like whatever you like, and which helps you in your practice. The Buddha could look occidental, african or aryan and as long as the image was useful, it would be fine.

In the end, its about the practice and the result. The Buddha would probably be the first to say appearances are unimportant, and in this sense you don't get points for "getting it right".

Answer 3

I believe Sakaya (Buddha's clan) were Aryan (not the same context as Nazi would use it). And per sutta where Buddha explained his physical features, he said his eyes were complete green (this is up for academic debate because "complete green" in Pali could mean pitch black. Wiki says they were deep blue.
Here is modern day real Aryan race

Answer 4

You're welcome. He also said his skin was like gold. This too is up for interpretation. But with support from other sutta, i believe the idea of beatiful skin tone at the time was not too white nor too dark. My take is that Buddha had tan skin. But for sure he shaved his head. In many sutta, it was one of the insults to Buddha by those of others beliefs. Said to Buddha as he was walking "stop right there you bald headed monk, stop right there you thug!"

Ah. I meant to put this on a comment.