The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Celestial dancers, folio 146 (recto) from the “Devasano Pada Bhandar” Kalpa-sutra

Celestial dancers, folio 146 (recto) from the “Devasano Pada Bhandar” Kalpa-sutra

c. 1475
Gum tempera, ink, silver, and gold on paper
Overall: 11.2 x 26 cm (4 7/16 x 10 1/4 in.)
On Loan from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 18.2014.b
Location: not on view

Description

This page is from one of the most lavishly illuminated manuscripts, named after the temple library in Ahmedabad, India, that holds the largest number of pages. The female figures in the margins represent music and dance that are part of a suite of adornments fitting for a sacred text.

During the early 1400s, artists in western India became increasingly exposed to art from Western Asia and Iran, from which they learned techniques of painting in gold and creating symmetrical interlocking border designs and arabesque motifs.
  • The Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Los Angeles, CA
  • Text and Image in Southern Asia​ (Indian Painting and Himalayan rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26, 2022-March 5, 2023).
  • {{cite web|title=Celestial dancers, folio 146 (recto) from the “Devasano Pada Bhandar” Kalpa-sutra|url=false|author=|year=c. 1475|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/18.2014.b