The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 15, 2026

A horizontal palm leaf features three dense blocks of black-inked Indian script. The small, uniform characters run in tight horizontal rows across the tan surface. Two circular holes punctuate the spaces between these text sections, while a short inscription floats above the leftmost block. The leaf's rounded corners and undulating edges provide a natural frame for the ink and gum tempera composition.

Text, Folio 97 (recto), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra)

Sunday, September 14, 1119 (year 239 of the Newar Samvat in the month of Ashvina)

Eastern India, Bihar, Vikramashila Monastery. Painting: Nepal, Kathmandu

gum tempera and ink on palm leaves
Leaf: 5.4 x 56.2 cm (2 1/8 x 22 1/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1938.301.97.a
Location: Not on view
  • ?–1938
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1938–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Text, Folio 97 (recto), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra)|url=false|author=|year=Sunday, September 14, 1119 (year 239 of the Newar Samvat in the month of Ashvina)|access-date=15 April 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1938.301.97.a