Prajnaparamita ﬂanked by two female ﬁgures, folio 1 (verso), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra)

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Prajnaparamita ﬂanked by two female ﬁgures, folio 1 (verso), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra) is a 14 unspecified by Unknown, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 14
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This painting shows a crowned goddess with four arms, holding a rosary and palm leaf. She's giving a symbolic hand gesture, like she's teaching. The image is interesting because it's made on a palm leaf, and the goddess's golden skin tone matches the light color of the leaf. You can learn more about this kind of art at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

The story of this work

Overview

In the center of the first folio, the personification of the texts found within the manuscript is shown as a crowned four-armed goddess holding a rosary, palm leaf, and giving a mudra, or symbolic hand gesture, indicating that she is in the process of teaching. The haloed Prajnaparamita’s golden skin tone and accoutrements showcase the image’s self-reflexive relationship to the light-colored palm leaf that was used to make this book. The text on this leaf is not the Perfection of Wisdom itself , but rather a preamble of praises to the goddess known as the Prajnaparamita-stotra of Rahula.…