Jain Manuscript of the Kalpasutra and Kalakacavyakatha: recto; text, verso; text
More Than Words: The Art of Calligraphy Across Asia, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, October 21, 2017-July 8, 2018, no cat.
Jain Manuscript of the Kalpasutra
and KalakacavyakathaPatan, Gujarat, India, dated 1501Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Purchase: the Asian Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman,
2011.73This richly illustrated manuscript was created as a gift for an Indian monk at the turn of the 16th century. The manuscript contains texts from the Jain religion, which was founded on the teachings of a man named Mahavira, who lived in the 6th century
b.c.e. The paintings shown here illustrate scenes from the life of Mahavira, including his birth (above) and his legendary ritual cleansing in heaven afterwards by the god Indra (below).Made for monk Devakallola of the Upakesa gaccha, 1501;
With Nasli Heeramaneck, New York, 1960’s;
Private collection, 1967-2011;
With Carlton Rochell Asian Art, New York, by 2011;
Purchased from Carlton Rochell Asian Art by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2011.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Kimberly Masteller, Masterworks from India and Southeast Asia: the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kanas City, Missouri: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in association with University of Washington Press, 2016), 50-51, (repro.).
