Collection Online as of January 27, 2021

Seven Leaves from a Manuscript of the Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)

1000s-1100s

Part of a set. See all set records

Nepal

Gum tempera and ink on palm leaves

Overall: 4.2 x 52.4 cm (1 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1955.49

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Russian artist Svyatoslav Roerich (1904–1993) collected 144 pages of this manuscript in India.

Description

These pages come from a long horizontal book of 355 palm leaves, now dispersed among many collections. Featuring the pilgrim Sudhana on his quest to reach enlightenment, the text was especially influential in the spread of Buddhism to East Asia. These leaves are from the sole surviving illustrated manuscript of this text in its original language of Sanskrit.

Provenance

?-1955

(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1955-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 752 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 233 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 233 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 296 archive.org

Mace, Sonya Rhie. “Clearing the Course: Folio 348 of the Nepalese Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra in the Cleveland Museum of Art.” Religions 2020, 11(4), 183. Reproduced: Figs. 1-7, 9-11, 13-15, 17 doi.org