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Bodhisattva Samantabhadra purifies the path to enlightenment, with Manjushri, folio 348 (verso) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)

Unknown

1104

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Medieval Religious Nepal

Dominant colour

Bodhisattva Samantabhadra purifies the path to enlightenment, with Manjushri, folio 348 (verso) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array) is a 1104 unspecified by Unknown, depicting Nepal, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1104
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a bright, busy painting on an old book page. A golden figure in the center pushes away a blue-skinned man, while another blue-robed man waits nearby. To the left, a wise figure holds a flaming sword. On the right, a priest sets fire to a Hindu sage in a rocky place. This painting comes from a sacred Buddhist text, showing the struggle between good and bad in bold, almost cartoon-like colors. The artist didn’t sign it, so we don’t know who made it—but it’s over 900 years old. To see more art like this, look up *Nepal*.

The story of this work

Overview

The painting in the center shows a righteous bodhisattva tossing aside a blue-skinned heretic, while an impious blue-clad monk sits behind them, the next to be overpowered by the righteous one. In the painting on the left, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Manjushri, brandishes his sword, and at the far right, a Buddhist priest (Vajracharya) sets fire to a Hindu sage in a rocky landscape.