Bodhisattva Manjushri with two forms of Avalokiteshvara, folio 348 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array) (1000–1100s): Art, History and Details

Bodhisattva Manjushri with two forms of Avalokiteshvara, folio 348 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array) (1000–1100s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Bodhisattvas of Wisdom and Compassion sit in majesty, with Manjushri in the preaching gesture in the center, being honored by two worshipers. His mandorla dances with flames, and tongues of flames encircle its border. Two different forms of Avalokiteshvara are in the flanking paintings, a two-armed and a four-armed form.

Object facts

• Title: Bodhisattva Manjushri with two forms of Avalokiteshvara, folio 348 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)
• Date: 1000–1100s
• Culture: Nepal
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera and ink on palm leaf
• Dimensions: Average: 4.2 x 52.4 cm (1 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1955.49.7.a

A detail from the museum

A book on a blue lotus is just over the left shoulder of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Manjushri.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• Mace, Sonya Rhie. “Clearing the Course: Folio 348 of the Nepalese Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra in the Cleveland Museum of Art.” Religions 2020, 11(4), 183.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.