The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 10, 2026

A horizontally oriented gum tempera and ink manuscript folio features Nagari script in black and red ink breaking around three red circles. To the right, two stacked panels with red backgrounds and blue borders contain figures in gold garments. The top panel shows a golden animal within a structure beside two standing figures. Below, a seated figure faces two standing sisters.

The Lion's Cave with Sthulabhadra and His Sisters, Folio 60 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra

c. 1450

Western India, Gujarat

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Overall: 12.5 x 25.7 cm (4 15/16 x 10 1/8 in.)
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1932.119.60.b
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The three red dots in the margins and the center occur only on the reverse side of the page; the obverse side has only one red dot in the center.

Description

This manuscript is open to a page with a painting that depicts the story of a Jain monk who transformed himself into a composite beast when his sisters, two nuns, came to visit him. Terrified, the nuns ran to a senior monk, at the lower left, who admonished their brother for his overly prideful display of power. Remarkably, this story is not told in the text itself, which contains only their names among a list of prominent Jain teachers. The painting would remind a reader of the story that is found in many commentaries to the text.
  • ?–1932
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1932–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 242B). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 6–November 7, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=The Lion's Cave with Sthulabhadra and His Sisters, Folio 60 (verso), from a Kalpa-sutra|url=false|author=|year=c. 1450|access-date=10 September 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1932.119.60.b