Artwork
Folio 115 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Sudhana and a buffalo (recto); text (verso)
Folio 115 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Sudhana and a buffalo (recto); text (verso) is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1100 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
History & Provenance
It entered the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1955 as part of a gift accessioned as 1955.
The folio is dated by inscription to the year 1099 and is attributed to Nepal on stylistic grounds, placing it within the late eleventh-century Newar Buddhist manuscript tradition of the Kathmandu Valley.
It entered the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1955 as part of a gift accessioned as 1955.49.4, and has remained in the museum’s holdings since that date.
The folio is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland. It is cataloged under the accession number 1955.49.4. The museum's records identify the work as a painting created in 1099 in Nepal. No specific exhibition history is provided in the available sources.
Context
The folio originates from a 11th‑century Gandavyuha‑sutra manuscript produced in Nepal and is dated to 1099. As a religious painting, it exemplifies the visual program of Mahayana Buddhist texts that accompanied narrative sections with figurative scenes such as Sudhana with a buffalo. Scholarship situates the work within the corpus of early Nepalese manuscript painting, noting its stylistic affinities with other illustrated sutras from the same period.
The piece entered the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is catalogued under accession 1955.49.4, providing a rare surviving example of secular‑religious illustration from the era.
Overview
This artwork, Folio 115 from a Gandavyuha-sutra, is a worn wooden panel featuring a small drawing on its recto side and extensive text on its verso. The drawing depicts Sudhana riding a buffalo, rendered in simple lines and muted colors. The panel's edges show signs of age, and the ink text, which covers most of the surface, appears faded. This piece served as a page within a larger Buddhist scripture.
Subject & Meaning
The recto of this folio illustrates a key moment from the Gandavyuha-sutra, depicting the pilgrim Sudhana mounted on a buffalo. This imagery suggests a journey, a central theme within the scripture, which details Sudhana's quest for enlightenment. The small drawing provides a visual interlude amidst the dense script, symbolizing the protagonist's travels and spiritual progress through various encounters.
Technique & Style
Executed on a worn wooden panel, the artwork features a rudimentary drawing rendered with faded ink. The palette is restricted, primarily utilizing browns and reds, with minimal blue accents. The drawing's unrefined lines and simple composition contrast sharply with the meticulously dense script that covers the majority of the folio. The overall aesthetic reflects the functional nature of a manuscript page, where text predominates.
Artist & collection
- Folio 73 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Sudhana and an antelope (recto); text (verso)
Sudhana and an antelope, folio 73 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)
Folio 37 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Sudhana and a pair of antelopes (recto); text (verso)
Sudhana and a buffalo, folio 115 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)
Folio 22 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Samantabhadra spinning clouds of things (recto); Text (verso)
Folio 348 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Bodhisattva Manjushri with two forms of Avalokiteshvara (recto); Bodhisattva Samantabhadra purifies the path to enlightenment, with Manjushri (verso)
Sudhana and a parrot, folio 20 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)
Folio 20 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Sudhana and a parrot (recto); Text (verso)
Folio 94 from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Sudhana and the rishi Bhishmottaranirgosha (recto); text (verso)
Sudhana and the rishi Bhishmottaranirgosha, folio 94 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)
Sudhana and a pair of antelopes, folio 37 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)
Sudhana and a buffalo, folio 115 (recto) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)