Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Kings of Hells: Leaf 34
1204
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1204
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Kings of Hells: Leaf 34 is a 1204 unspecified by Unknown, a ming_painting work, depicting qianlong reign, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a man in red robes sitting on a throne, holding a scroll while demons torture a naked soul at his feet. This painting is one of 50 leaves from an album used to train artists in 13th-century China. Each scene was a model for how to paint religious figures—here, one of the Ten Kings of Hell judging the dead. The bright colors and sharp lines were meant to be copied, not just admired. To see more works like this, look up Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).
