Text, Folio 113 (recto), 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

Text, Folio 113 (recto), 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 is a long wooden block with three rows of carved text. The letters are tiny, packed tightly together, and look like they’ve been cut into the wood. The surface is smooth, and the block is marked with small numbers in the corners. The text is part of an old Buddhist scripture, written in a style used over 900 years ago. Each row reads left to right, like a book page, but the letters are reversed—meant to be printed onto paper. Look up The Cleveland Museum of Art to see more objects like this.