Shvetambara Jain Teacher Giving Instruction

c. 1750–60

possibly by Sahib Ram

(Indian, active 1745–1803)

Culture

Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Jaipur

Medium

gum tempera and gold on paper

Measurements

Overall: 20 x 27.9 cm (7 7/8 x 11 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.171

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The monks seated next to the teacher place their whisk-brooms before them.

Description

A manuscript lies on a low table in front of the preacher, who holds one hand up in the gesture of discourse, and the other holds a cloth to shield his mouth from insects. The audience of laypeople includes men gathered near the front of the composition, and women in a group toward the back.

The preacher and the white-clad figures behind him are Jain householder monks, permitted to grow hair and moustaches and to wear a colored shawl that indicates higher status. Householder monks in Rajasthan often served as scribes and maintained manuscript libraries.