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Buddha Amitābha with Two Attending Bodhisattvas
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The supreme deities that rule over the Western Paradise—Amitābha (阿彌陀 in Chinese), Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin 觀音), and Mahāsthāmaprāpta (Dashizhi 大勢至)—are here enclosed within a circle of light. To secure entry into that paradise for Buddhist followers of the Pure Land sect, one must recite the phrase namo amituofo (南無阿彌陀佛, Homage to the Buddha Amitābha). Here the phrase is repeated 10 times in calligraphy above the figures, reinforcing the need for continual recitation.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBuddha Amitābha with Two Attending Bodhisattvas, 1200s. China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk; painting: 134 x 79.7 cm (52 3/4 x 31 3/8 in.); overall with knobs: 224.5 x 101.5 cm (88 3/8 x 39 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1974.35