Cleveland Museum of Art

Nemi Enthroned, Folio 54 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra

Date

c. 1475–1500

Medium

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Culture

Western India, Gujarat

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Followers of the Jain religion recognize 24 Jinas, individuals who reached liberation from the cycles of death and rebirth. Arishtanemi was the 22nd of the 24 and was a cousin of Krishna. Here Arishtanemi sits in eternal meditative bliss, crowned and bejeweled in a shrine. His attendants are sometimes recognized as the Hindu deities Krishna and Balarama. Followers of the Jain religion do not view Krishna as a supreme deity; instead, they view him and his brother Balarama as semidivine heroes with access to the liberated being.

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