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Folio 348 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Bodhisattva Manjushri with two forms of Avalokiteshvara (recto); Bodhisattva Samantabhadra purifies the path to enlightenment, with Manjushri (verso)
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About this work
This leaf has six paintings, three on the recto and three on the verso, creating part of a visual grand finale. The first 340 leaves of the manuscript mainly have a single painting, but at the end there are more, and they depict varied and sometimes aggressive imagery. Similarly, the text ends with a hymn, the Buddhisattva vow to clear the path to enlightenment of evil obstacles, such as wrong views and bad influences.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineFolio 348 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Bodhisattva Manjushri with two forms of Avalokiteshvara (recto); Bodhisattva Samantabhadra purifies the path to enlightenment, with Manjushri (verso), 1000–1100s. Nepal. Gum tempera and ink on palm leaf; average: 4.2 x 52.4 cm (1 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1955.49.7