Images

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=2F15A3359B026F08FDF915C08749F7C4E4D8C16A5EEACD1A59BD9A7803856CF3&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=0&f=1982.147_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=7E76D3570D0BA70CCFA15B68562F1A97325B7DE2FA1AFC1AC69B3E9111E1CBE1&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det01_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=7E76D3570D0BA70CC9C52E628823207127BBC6D15C8C2307930ED162BB1F9D35&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det02_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=7E76D3570D0BA70C7DB44993B9BF85168EDAD3A561E8433072BF548B25C01982&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det03_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=7E76D3570D0BA70C6467ABE9963951E68964EDEC706D1B2BE95EE40951D1BB30&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det04_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=7E76D3570D0BA70C209A596DA71B729489AE182E892E36621CF4B9660047325A&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det05_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=7E76D3570D0BA70C49562F34B4D611264310C3CBD50CF9F8B97FDDE44A965ADD&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det06_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=7E76D3570D0BA70C15ED5DB40397152937EC72F73416817065EE98F4D9A01503&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det07_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=4C5A6D13B3AFF5E1C5BD2321CDC5EA5EE16C8A0D6CDFAD26AE844CBADDEDC55A&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det08_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=4C5A6D13B3AFF5E152437456FFCBE1FA324E4730CDC41EE90F5873AC1D896DA0&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det09_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=4C5A6D13B3AFF5E10630F41CCC4C18502CAD9FD870B353F376DA91898B6ADF49&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det10_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=4C5A6D13B3AFF5E1B0F153984D6F5C0411FFCCCB2DFA894B06B6CD350270BD63&s=24247294&se=807960972&v=1&f=%5C1982.147det11_o2.jpg

Additional Views

Feb 28, 2013

Mar 1, 2013

Feb 28, 2013

Mar 1, 2013

Eleven-Headed, Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara)

c. 1500

Western Tibet

Gum tempera and ink on cotton

Overall: 94.6 x 69.2 cm (37 1/4 x 27 1/4 in.)

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1982.147

Location

not on view

Description

One thousand arms surround the central figure like a radiating halo. Each hand has an eye in the palm to see the suffering of all beings, generating the sense of compassion that this figure embodies. The special form of the central image of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara derives from the mystic vision of a nun named Gelongma Palmo, who was born a Kashmiri princess, but prayed for leprosy to avoid having to marry and became an accomplished nun. While meditating in a cave, she achieved this vision of 11-headed, 1,000-armed Avalokiteshvara, who cured her leprosy and guided her on the path to enlightenment.

Provenance

?–1982

(Navin Kumar Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1982–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Pal, Pratapaditya. "Cosmic Vision and Buddhist Images." Art International vol. XXV/1-2 (January, 1982), pp. 8–39. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 24–25

Klimburg-Salter, Deborah E., and Maximilian Klimburg. The Silk Route and the Diamond Path: Esoteric Buddhist Art on the Trans-Himalayan Trade Routes. Los Angeles, CA: Published under the sponsorship of the UCLA Art Council, 1982. Reproduced: p. 201, pl. 122

Lee, Sherman E. "Year in Review for 1982." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (1983): 3–55. Mentioned: no. 134, p. 55; Reproduced: no. 134, p. 31 www.jstor.org

Pal, Pratapaditya. Tibetan Paintings: A Study of Tibetan Thankas, Eleventh to Nineteenth Centuries. Vaduz: Ravi Kumar, Lilakala, 1984. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 111, pl. 46

Kerin, Melissa R. and Rob Linrothe. "Recollecting Kashmir: Cleveland's Eleven-headed, Thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara." Orientations 46, no. 1 (January/February 2015): 68-76. Mentioned and Reproduced: figs. 1, 1a, 3, 4, 5; pp. 68, 70, and 72

Ahmed, Monisha. "Exhibition review of Collecting Paradise: Buddhist Art of Kahsmire and Its Legacies." Mārg 67, no. 1 (September-December 2015): 80–83. Reproduced: fig. 1, p. 80

Exhibition history

The Silk Route and the Diamond Path: Esoteric Buddhist Art on the Trans-Himalayan Trade Routes. Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery of UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (November 7, 1982-January 2, 1983); Asia Society Gallery, New York, NY (February 6-April 3, 1983); National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (April 28-June 30,1983).

Selections from the Tibetan Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 1-October 25, 1993).

Main Himalayan Rotation (Gallery 239). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 18, 2013-June 30, 2014).

Collecting Paradise: Buddhist Art of Kashmir and Its Legacies. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL (organizer) (January 13-April 19, 2015); Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY (May 22-October 19, 2015).

Himalayan art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 1, 2021-February 6, 2022).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Eleven-Headed, Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara)|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1982.147|year=c. 1500|access-date=21 September 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.

You are here:

Images

Eleven-Headed, Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara)

Eleven-Headed, Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara)

Western Tibet

Location

Download and Share

Description

Contact us