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The Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages in Attaining the Most Perfect Knowledge

Unknown

1454

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Ming Painting Renaissance Renaissance Religious

Dominant colour

The Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages in Attaining the Most Perfect Knowledge is a 1454 unspecified by Unknown, a Ming Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1454 · Ming Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see ten robed figures seated in rows, each holding different objects—books, flowers, or jewels—against a gold-leaf background. These are bodhisattvas, beings who delay enlightenment to help others. The painting was part of a set used in a ritual where water and land spirits were honored. The fine details—wrinkles in silk, tiny patterns on hems—show how much care went into temple art during this time. To see more works like this, look up china, ming dynasty (1368–1644).

The story of this work

Overview

This painting represents bodhisattvas of the 10 stages of enlightenment undergoing the final processes toward Buddhahood. This and CMA 1973.70.2 form part of a set of scrolls that were used to perform the Water-Land ( shuilu ) ritual. The sinuous curves of scarf and drapery, the layering of garments, and the minute detail all reflect the opulent visual atmosphere that surrounded the Ming worshipper in temples and spirit halls throughout the country. In the upper right corner of each painting is an imperial seal and an inscription in gold: Donated on the third day of the eighth month in the…

Did you know?

This painting was used in the grandest of the Buddhist mortuary rites, the Water-Land ( shuilu ) ritual, which was conducted for the salvation of “all souls of the dead on land and sea.”

Read the full account in the museum source.