The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 17, 2024

Text, Folio 31 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra

Text, Folio 31 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra

c. 1475–1500
Overall: 12.5 x 25.7 cm (4 15/16 x 10 1/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

The large, seated figure in the center of the composition is Indra, king of the gods, who holds in his lap the infant Mahavira, founder of the Jain religion. Indra had taken him to Mount Meru, indicated by the jagged peaks at the bottom of the painting, for his first bath. Two priests flanking them hold vessels for the bath, and the two cows above indicate that the vessels are full of milk. The milk bath washed away all the impurities of the birth.
  • ?–1932
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1932–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. Mentioned: cat. no. 3xii
  • {{cite web|title=Text, Folio 31 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra|url=false|author=|year=c. 1475–1500|access-date=17 September 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1932.119.31.b