The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 2, 2023

Ascetic Holding a Skull

c. 500

China, Northern Wei dynasty

(386-534)

Gilt bronze

Overall: 19.4 cm (7 5/8 in.); Figure: 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1980.25

Location

241C Chinese Buddhist Sculptures

Description

The figure holding the skull has been identified as Mrgasirsa, who sought Buddha’s teaching on how to
determine the karma and transmigration of the arhats. Mrgasirsa appears with Vasistha in some of the wall
paintings of the Mogao grottoes in Dunhuang.

Provenance
Major General Sir Neill Malcolm
Citations
Misugi, Takatoshi. Chūgoku kinseki tōji zukan. Ōsaka: Chūgoku Kinseki Tōji Zukan Kankōkai, 1961.
Exhibition history

International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935-6, cat. no. 522, p. 52 (Royal Academy of Arts)

Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939, no. 61

Fogg Museum of Art 1939-45

Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.25