Text, folio 5 (verso), from Brahman Rishabhadatta's speech, from a Kalpa-sutra (c. 1475–1500): Art, History and Details

Text, folio 5 (verso), from Brahman Rishabhadatta's speech, from a Kalpa-sutra (c. 1475–1500) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Manuscripts of the Kalpa-sutra are sacred embodiments of Jain doctrine. For this reason, they are worthy of beautification, adornment, and celebration by the inhabitants of heaven, such as the celestial dancers under cusped arches on this page. The commissioning of a manuscript is believed to cleanse donors of the karmic effects of past wrongdoing. Wealthy donors gained prestige in the community with the costly production of a sacred manuscript.

Object facts

• Title: Text, folio 5 (verso), from Brahman Rishabhadatta's speech, from a Kalpa-sutra
• Date: c. 1475–1500
• Culture: Western India, Gujarat
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 11.5 x 29.3 cm (4 1/2 x 11 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1979.23.b

A detail from the museum

The "further eye" extending beyond the bounds of the face is a characteristic of 15th-century painting.

Collection credit

Gift in memory of Herbert F. Leisy

Further reading listed by the museum

• Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986.

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.