The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Diagrams of the Universe: The Two-and-a-Half Continents, the Universe in the Shape of a Person, and the Seven Levels of Hell

1613

Western India, Gujarat

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on cloth
83.8 x 155 cm (33 x 61 in.)
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.201
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The seven levels of hell depict various punishments as per Jain mythology.

Description

According to Jain cosmology, the universe is envisioned in the shape of a man. Above the waist are seven levels of heavens; below the waist are seven levels of hell. His midsection is the earthly realm, here shown as a round diagram with mountains and rivers, expanded at the left. The hell scenes are elaborated at the right.
  • ?–2018
    Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2018–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Proser, Adriana G. Comparative Hell: Arts of Asian Underworlds. New York: Asia Society Museum; Milan: Officina Libraria, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 93, no. 4
    Ellcock, Stephen. The Cosmic Dance: Finding Patterns and Pathways in a Chaotic Universe. New York, New York : Thames & Hudson, 2022. Reproduced: p. 188
    "Arts of Asian Underworlds." Asian Art: the Newspaper for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries 26, i. 5 (May 2023): 10–11. Reproduced: p. 10
  • Comparative Hell: Arts of Asian Underworlds. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 28-May 7, 2023) https://asiasociety.org/new-york/exhibitions/comparative-hell-arts-asian-underworlds; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (June 16-September 18, 2023).
    Paintings of Bikaner – Indian Gallery 242 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2019-April 5, 2020).
  • {{cite web|title=Diagrams of the Universe: The Two-and-a-Half Continents, the Universe in the Shape of a Person, and the Seven Levels of Hell|url=false|author=|year=1613|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.201