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Lot Essay
Shakyamuni is surrounded by vignettes illustrating four classic Buddhist stories. This painting is part of a large painting set depicting all one-hundred-and-eight classic teaching stories known as Avadana in Sanskrit. This particular composition depicts chapters eighty-nine through ninety-one: The Son of Hastishayyati, The Liberation of Dharmaruchi, Dhanika's Offerings, and The Eloquence of King Shibi (for further reading, see P. Chopel, D. Black, and Kshemendra, Leaves of the Heaven Tree: the Great Compassion of the Buddha, Berkeley, CA, 1997).
The narrative design is based on a series of woodcut prints from Narthang Monastery depicting the Avadana compendium of the Indian adept, Kshemendra. The white figure of Chakrasamvara floating in the clouds in the upper-right corner of the composition, however, appears to be this artist’s own addition. The color palette and landscape style indicate the nineteenth-century origin of this painting.
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24547.
The narrative design is based on a series of woodcut prints from Narthang Monastery depicting the Avadana compendium of the Indian adept, Kshemendra. The white figure of Chakrasamvara floating in the clouds in the upper-right corner of the composition, however, appears to be this artist’s own addition. The color palette and landscape style indicate the nineteenth-century origin of this painting.
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24547.