The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Mahavira's Initiation Tonsure, Folio 37 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra
c. 1475–1500
Overall: 12.5 x 25.7 cm (4 15/16 x 10 1/8 in.)
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1932.119.37.b
Location: not on view
Description
When Mahavira chose to renounce his life as a prince to seek omniscience and ultimate liberation, he traveled from his palace to the countryside until he came to a wooded park. The text states that under an ashoka tree in the park, Mahavira removed his ornaments and garlands and plucked out his hair with his fists in five handfuls. In the illumination he unflinchingly grasps a fistful of hair, his pectoral muscle flexed with the effort. Indra, the four-armed king of the gods, sits under a royal canopy on a lower level than Mahavira and praises his extreme act of self-mortification. The dramatic moment is effectively conveyed through the pert and wiry line drawing and bold palette of pigments made from lapis lazuli, vermilion, and lavish amounts of gold.- ?–1932(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1932–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Hollis, Howard C. "A Jaina Manuscript." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 21, no. 2 (1934): 19–21. Mentioned: pp. 19–21; Reproduced: [unpaginated] www.jstor.org
- Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 245): April 28, 2015 - November 2, 2015.
- {{cite web|title=Mahavira's Initiation Tonsure, Folio 37 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra|url=false|author=|year=c. 1475–1500|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1932.119.37.b