Fragment of a Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript folio

Fragment of a Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript folio

Unidentified

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This rare and seemingly unprecedented painting in all likelihood represents the earliest surviving illustrated manuscript tradition in the Kashmiri style. Passages of surviving text in both black and red ink on both the recto and verso confirm that it accompanied a manuscript edition of the esoteric Prajnaparamita Sutra. The deity depicted is an early representation of Manjushri, seated in meditative posture and displaying in his raised hand the holy book (pustaka) and in the lower hand, poised over his heart, a stylized blue lotus bud. White lotus adorn ribbons bracketing the head, and white rosettes are tucked beneath a triple-tiered golden diadem. He is further adorned with golden jewelry and a white (pearl?) necklace and garland. He is seated on a lotus cushion, a cusped nimbus frames his head and the entire figure is set in a cusped mandorla, edged in yellow.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fragment of a Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript folioFragment of a Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript folioFragment of a Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript folioFragment of a Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript folioFragment of a Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript folio

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.