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Buddhist Deities Paying Court
Buddhist Deities Paying Court

Buddhist Deities Paying Court

Original Language Title佛教眾神
CultureChinese
Date14th century
MediumHanging scroll; ink and color on silk
DimensionsImage: 50 1/2 × 35 1/4 inches (128.27 × 89.54 cm)
Mount: 104 1/4 × 40 3/4 inches (264.8 × 103.51 cm)
Credit LineGift of Laurence Sickman
Object number73-29
On View
Not on view
Collections
Exhibition History

Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting, Nelson-Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, November 7, 1980 – January 4, 1981; The Cleveland Museum of Art, February 11 – March 29, 1982, no. 130.

Emperors, Scholars and Temples: Tastemakers of China’s Ming and Qing Dynasties, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, August 12, 2016 – January, 2017.

Gallery Label
The deities in this refined and colorful painting reveal blessings from the clouds. The two leading figures wearing halos are likely Indra and Brahma, Hindu deities that were assimilated into Buddhism. Both deities are believed to guard Buddhist Law and guide believers. In art from the Ming and Qing dynasties, the pair appears as the Chinese empress and emperor in order to attract Chinese devotees. The blue haired empress scatters jewels said to grant wishes. The emperor offers incense in a hand-held burner, from which the fragrant smoke would help believers connect to the spiritual world of the Buddha.

Provenance

Laurence Sickman (1907-1988), Kansas City, MO, by June 1947-1973 [1]; 

His gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1973.

NOTES:

[1] This object was on loan from Sickman to the Nelson-Atkins from June 1947 until its gift in 1973.

Published References

Wai-Kam Ho, et al., Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and The Cleveland Museum of Art. (The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, c1980), 152, no. 130. (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 322. (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 353, no. 217. (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.