Cleveland Museum of Art

Text, folio 5 (verso), from Brahman Rishabhadatta's speech, from a Kalpa-sutra

Date: c. 1475–1500
Medium: gum tempera and gold on paper
Culture: Western India, Gujarat
Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

Manuscripts of the Kalpa-sutra are sacred embodiments of Jain doctrine. For this reason, they are worthy of beautification, adornment, and celebration by the inhabitants of heaven, such as the celestial dancers under cusped arches on this page. The commissioning of a manuscript is believed to cleanse donors of the karmic effects of past wrongdoing. Wealthy donors gained prestige in the community with the costly production of a sacred manuscript. The "further eye" extending beyond the bounds of the face is a characteristic of 15th-century painting.

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