Shakyamuni Triad: Buddha Attended by Manjushri and Samantabhadra (Buddha)
1304
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1304
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Shakyamuni Triad: Buddha Attended by Manjushri and Samantabhadra (Buddha) is a 1304 unspecified by Unknown, a Ming Painting work, depicting Fujian Province, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a tall, gold-leaf painting of Buddha sitting on a lotus, flanked by two holy figures—one on a lion, one on an elephant. Below them, smaller figures kneel or stand, hands folded in prayer. This painting is from Yuan-dynasty China, a time when Buddhist art was rare. The clouds around the figures aren’t just decoration; they’re shaped like dragons and swirls, almost alive. The artist used thin, glowing lines to make the gold shine in dim temple light. To see more like this, look up *yuan dynasty (1271-1368)*.
This triptych is a rare example of Yuan Buddhist painting. It depicts the historic Buddha Shakyamuni flanked by two attending bodhisattvas, Manjushri (the bodhisattva of wisdom, riding a lion) and Samantabhadra (the bodhisattva of universal virtue, riding an elephant). Below them are others seeking enlightenment: two disciples of the Buddha (Ananada and Kasyapa), two non-Chinese people, a boy with topknots, and a female worshiper. The clouds above and around the divine beings form one scene that illustrates Shakyamuni’s sermon from the Lotus Sutra . This text became an important basis for…
Shakyamuni is seated cross-legged on the throne with the hand gesture (mudra) of giving instruction.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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