Cleveland Museum of Art

Shakyamuni with two attendants

Date

1300s

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk

Culture

China, Yuan (1271-1368) or early Ming dynasty (1368-1644)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The historic Buddha Shakyamuni is seated on an elaborately decorated pedestal and flanked by two attendants making gestures of devotion. The unknown artist used gold and deeply hued pigments to depict the luxurious fabrics, particularly the golden medallions of swirling dragons and clouds on the Buddha’s red robe. The painting itself is mounted in a Buddhist style with two tiers of fine silk borders. The inner border of gold brocade on a cream background surrounds the painting. The outer border is yellow silk; decorative silk strips, called futai , dangle from the top hanging bar. This painting was made on 3 vertical panels of silk stitched together. The joins are visible just outside of Shakyamuni's left and right shoulders.

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