明 佚名 觀音羅漢圖 扇|Guanyin and the sixteen luohans

Unidentified artist

16th–17th century · Round fan mounted as an album leaf; ink, color, and gold on silk · Asian Art

Chinese beliefs about magical islands and enchanted caves were blended with Buddhist ideas imported from India to create iconographic combinations like the one you see here. Mystical clouds encircle the magical island of Mount Putuo as a dragon rises from the crashing waves. The bodhisattva Guanyin, who pledged to forgo enlightenment and remain in the world in order to aid suffering beings, sits in a cave high atop the mountain. Sixteen luohans, wizened guardians of the Buddhist law, pay her homage. Prostrating before Guanyin is the young pilgrim boy Sudhana (Chinese: Shancai), who has come to her seeking spiritual guidance.

Artist

Unidentified artist

Date

16th–17th century

Medium

Round fan mounted as an album leaf; ink, color, and gold on silk

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1913