If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A surplice (asquare robe of patched brocade), worn by high-ranking Buddhist monks. This example is Japanese, but the same type of surplice is found in Chinese and Korean Buddhist traditions.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
This radiant, crowned, bejeweled, and youthful Buddha, with long locks piled high on his head and wearing a loincloth-like dhoti, evokes the appearance and manner of an Indian prince rather than a simple monk. Representations of Buddha as a prince come out of a tradition that stressed the royal origins of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, before he abandoned secular life. The imagery of a more “godlike” Buddha emerged in the late seventh to early eighth century in India as a response to the growing popularity of Hinduism. Not surprisingly, these resplendent images appealed to great emperors and petty princes alike and, from Tibet to Indonesia to China and Japan, they dominated the great royal Buddhist temples of the eighth century.
This particular image is identified as Vairocana (Great Radiance) by his gesture of clasping his left forefinger with his right hand, symbolizing the philosophical notion of “the union of six elements”: earth, air, fire, water, and wood, all subsumed into the mind. It was made in Japan, probably in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, in a style that consciously looks back to the work of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. The image and its halo and dais are all carved from wood that was hollowed out, coated with gesso, and then lacquered and gilded. When new, the ensemble would have been a dazzling gold, but it has taken on a beautiful patina as the gilding has worn away.
(Label for UMMA Japanese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Shiva dances upon the back of a dwarf figure crouching on his stomach. This pose is not as typical as some of his other dancing postures. He dances on one leg extended straight down with the other straight up almost making a straight line. His torso and head are thrown back. He only has two hands, one holding a drum at his knee and the other a khatvanga, a club made of a bone with a skull at the top. He wears jewelry including a belt with pendent loops and tassels, necklaces including a heavy long necklace, armlets and bracelets and an elaborate crown organized with a number of peaks. On his forehead we find the third eye, another identifier of the god Shiva. A dense circular background consisting of three inner rows of round elements, the middle one may be composed of skulls, and an outer row of flame-like elements surrounds the whole figure, animating the image into a whirl of the dance. The whole sits on a circular base, plain with a flanged bottom section decorated with a lotus petal motif.
Subject Matter
Shiva is often depicted in a dancing form, usually interpreted as his dance of creation and destruction. The most common form has him in a very different pose, but other poses such as this one are sometimes found. This particular image suggests the destructive nature of the dance quite clearly. He dances on the dwarf of forgetfulness and he is holding a khatvanga, a club made of a bone with a skull at the top, a reference to both his destructive nature and the fact that he is dancing in a creation ground where we find such unburned items. On his forehead we find the third eye, another identifier of the god Shiva.
Label Copy
March 28, 2009
Shiva loves to dance. He dances in triumph at defeating demons; he dances for the pleasure of his consort; he dances the world into extinction and then back into existence. The god’s dancing form provided a popular subject for artists, who cast bronze figures for both festival use and home worship. Most of these depict the Lord of Dance with his body fixed in perfect equilibrium, his face uncannily serene. This one, by contrast, emphasizes the god’s vigorous motion and theatrical splendor. With an ecstatic thrust, Shiva kicks one leg to the sky and arches back, responding to the force of the thrust, the motion, it seems, increasing his rapture.
(Label for UMMA South and Southeast Asia Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
The Buddha in bhumisparsa mudra (the gesture of touching the earth with his right hand, palm inward), signaling his victory over Mara. In Southeast Asian contexts, this hand gesture is often referred to as Maravijaya mudra, or "victory over Mara."
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Ink, watercolor and gold on paper. Central figure, Vishnu with devotees on his right and left. Male figures are located on the left side of Vishnu and the female figures on the right. The animals are depicted on the lower half of the portrait which goes with traditional hierarchical beliefs. The tiger is on the left and the elephant on the right.
Subject Matter
Appart of a series of works by Bilvamangala, a devotee of Vishnu who wrote sets of devotional poems. The series as a whole presents scenes of Vishnu being worshipped in his many forms. Here he appears as Krishna, worshipped by gopis (cow-herders, identifiable by their sticks), women, a nonchalant tiger, and an elephant.
Label Copy
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Krishna Venerated by People and Animals
Folio 8 from a dispersed Bilvamangala series
India, Rajasthan, Udaipur
circa 1700
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel and Dr. and Mrs. Steven J. Figiel, 1983/2.111
Among the many texts illustrated in Udaipur in the early eighteenth century were works by Bilvamangala, a devotee of Vishnu who wrote sets of devotional poems. The illustrations were often commissioned as an act of devotion. The series as a whole presents scenes of Vishnu being worshipped in his many forms. Here he appears as Krishna, worshipped by gopis (cow-herders, identifiable by their sticks), women, a nonchalant tiger, and an elephant.
Udaipur was the political and artistic center of Mewar, a powerful Rajput kingdom that successfully resisted the Mughals until the early seventeenth century, when it was brought into the Mughal political fold. By the end of that century, however, when this work was made, the style of Mewari painters showed little Mughal influence.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Leaf from a Kalpasutra manuscript with calligraphic text. Font size varies, and in the center of the leaf text wraps around a blank box of parchment with a red dot in the center. To the left of this main text block is a colorful illustration of an enthroned figure in a dotted robe flanked by devotees. Surrounding him are various auspicious symbols.
Subject Matter
The Kalpasutra, which recounts the lives of the jinas, is a popular text of the Shvetambara sect of Jainism. Commissioning illuminated manuscripts was one way for a Jaina layperson to accrue religious merit, and Shvetambara temple libraries house many copies of manuscripts, embellished with exquisite paintings done in expensive pigments.
Label Copy
The Kalpasutra, which recounts the lives of the jinas, is a popular text of the Shvetambara sect of Jainism. Commissioning illuminated manuscripts was one way for a Jaina layperson to accrue religious merit, and Shvetambara temple libraries house many copies of manuscripts, embellished with exquisite paintings done in expensive pigments.
This is the second folio of the Kalpasutra, and the enthroned figure seen here would have faced a depiction of a Jina. Variously read as Mahavira dressed as a monk or as Gautama, his chief disciple, the figure is surrounded by devotees and auspicious symbols. Although Shvetambara monks normally wear white garments, in early manuscripts the robes of the jinas and their disciples are often depicted with dotted or striped patterns. The overall richness of the image, including the lavish use of gold, testifies to the wealth of the donor.
Exhibited in "Divine Encounters, Earthly Pleasures: Twenty Centuries of Indian Art," 12/12/03-2/22/04.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Two columns of Latin text fill this page taken from a bible manuscript. A painting in a gold rectangular frame is located in the lower right column. An angel descends from a blue semicircular disc in the upper right corner of the painting and grasps a larger figure by the hair with both hands. This second figure holds a jug in his left hand and a plate with bread in his right. A third figure, dressed in a white robe, reaches up toward this larger figure from an enclosure below. He appears against a black background and four gray animal heads overlap his torso.
Subject Matter
This manuscript page, taken from a bible, contains the prologue and opening text of the Book of Daniel. A diminutive rectangular painting marks the beginning of the book itself in the lower right column of text. Daniel, clothed in a white robe, appears at the bottom of this image within a dark enclosure surrounded by four lions. Above the enclosure stands the larger figure of the prophet Habakuk holding a jug of water and a plate of bread. With the help of an angel who suspends him by his hair, Habakuk miraculously delivers the sustaining food to Daniel.
Label Copy
As the sacred text of the Christian faith, the Bible was used continuously throughout the Middle Ages. By the 12th century, every monastery could be expected to own a Bible, typically produced in the monastic scriptorium, or scribal workshop, though often decorated by professional, lay artists working in the monastery. By the 13th century, professional scribes working in urban workshops, produced Bibles for preachers, scholars, and university students.
The demand for smaller and more affordable Bibles, such as this one, led to economical and ingenious use of the page. In this densely inscribed leaf, the rubrics (section headings so called because they are in red ink), are neatly and tightly integrated into the main text. At the bottom of the second column of text, the historiated initial "I" (which tells a story, or "history") shows the prophet Habakkuk—with an angel lifting him by the hair of his head—bringing food and drink to Daniel in the lions’ den.
Exhibition label text, collections gallery, by Curator Annette Dixon, April 2001
The demand for smaller and more affordable Bibles led to ingenious and economical use of teh page, as in rubrics (section headings) which are neatly integrated into the main text. The beginning of the Book of Daniel is marked by a historiated initial "I" showing Habakkuk, assisted by an angel, bringing food and drink to Daniel in the lions' den.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A shabbily dressed figure holds out at arm’s length a small fish. He is completely focused on his catch, and his mouth almost seems to drool. The face, hands, and feet are sketched in a deliberately simplistic way, while the costume is drawn with only a few swift slashes of the brush, and the strokes bleed into each other.
Subject Matter
Among the new categories of imagery introduced to East Asian art by Zen is that of the “eccentric.” A Zen eccentric defies the restrictions of the human body or the basic norms of Buddhist behavior, and in so doing demands that we question our ready assumptions about logic and reality. Artists reveled in the chance to paint eccentrics, and these works are often full of visual wit and humor.
From the traditional Buddhist standpoint, the subject is eccentric because he is violating a taboo against the consumption of flesh. The Zen view is that distinctions between ostensible opposites—vegetable, non-vegetable—are illusory.
Label Copy
Among the new categories of imagery introduced to East Asian art by Zen is that of the “eccentric.” Sometimes such characters are loosely based on historical figures, but more often they appear to be inventions of the Chinese imagination. The eccentrics are not simply odd, awkward at small talk, or rude at the dinner table. A Zen eccentric defies the restrictions of the human body or the basic norms of Buddhist behavior, and in so doing demands that we question our ready assumptions about logic and reality. Artists reveled in the chance to paint eccentrics, and these works are often full of visual wit and humor.
This disarmingly modest ink painting presents us with the figure of a shabbily dressed fellow who holds out at arm’s length a small fish. He is completely focused on his catch, and his mouth almost seems to drool. From the traditional Buddhist standpoint, the subject is eccentric because he is violating a taboo against the consumption of flesh. The Zen view is that distinctions between ostensible opposites—vegetable, non-vegetable—are illusory. The style of the painting also departs from orthodox norms. The face, hands, and feet are sketched in a deliberately simplistic way, while the costume is drawn with only a few swift slashes of the brush, and the strokes bleed into each other. Are we looking at the image of a fish-eater, or a blur of ink on paper?
This work is tentatively assigned to the Kano school artist Tsunenobu (1636–1713) on the basis of the signature, but it it difficult to find similar works in his known oeuvre; the seal has not been deciphered.
Arts of Zen, February 15-June 15, 2003
M. Graybill, Senior Curator of Asian Art
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Among the new categories of imagery introduced to East Asian art by Zen is that of the “eccentric.” Sometimes such characters are loosely based on historical figures, but more often they appear to be inventions of the Chinese imagination. A Zen eccentric defies the restrictions of the human body or the basic norms of Buddhist behavior, and in so doing demands that we question our ready assumptions about logic and reality. Artists reveled in the chance to paint eccentrics, and these works are often full
of visual wit and humor.
This disarmingly modest ink painting presents us with the figure of a shabbily dressed fellow who holds out at arm’s length a small fish. From the traditional Buddhist standpoint, the subject is eccentric because he is violating a taboo against the consumption of flesh. The Zen view is that distinctions between ostensible opposites—vegetable, non-vegetable—are illusory. The style of the painting also departs from orthodox norms. The face, hands, and feet are sketched in a deliberately simplistic way, while the costume is drawn with only a few swift slashes of the brush and the strokes bleed into each other. Are we looking at the image of a fish-eater, or a blur of ink on paper?
(6/28/10)
(Japanese Gallery Rotation, Spring 2010)
Inscription
Signed at lower right: Tsunenobu hitsu; Seal at lower right.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Hanging scroll with five large calligraphic kanji characters. The lower right contains further text and orangish read seals. The background brocade on which it is mounted is green and gold and has a floral design. Two strips of other material lie across the top and bottom of the white material on which teh calligraphy is painted. These strips also have a floral design and a light gold/yellow background.
Subject Matter
In traditional China, calligraphy was regarded as the highest of the arts because it was held to be the truest reflection of one’s character. For Chinese Chán and Japanese Zen monks, who were immersed in Chinese literati culture, calligraphy could thus be a form of self-portraiture.
The verse here, piously attributed to Bodhidharma, is the second of a two-line poem and seems to predict the future flourishing of the five lineages of Zen: “One bud opens into five petals, and naturally ripens into fruit.”
The calligrapher of this scroll, Ôbaku Tetsugen, was among the first generation of Japanese converts to the Ôbaku sect of Zen; he was a disciple of Muan Xingtao (known in Japan as Mokuan).
Label Copy
In traditional China, calligraphy was regarded as the highest of the arts, for it was held to be the truest reflection of one’s character. To do calligraphy well required many years of disciplined practice and study of the great works of earlier masters. For Chinese and Japanese Zen monks, who absorbed much of Chinese literati culture, calligraphy could thus be a form of self-portraiture. Just as the disciples and lay followers of a prominent Zen teacher would request copies of his painted likeness, so also did they seek to obtain authentic samples of his writing. Hanging scrolls such as this one were produced by the thousands to satisfy this market. The inscriptions are meant to have edifying content; often, they quote from or allude to the Zenrin kushû, a well-known collection of Zen sayings. The verse here is the second line of a two-line poem, a verse piously attributed to Bodhidharma that seems to predict the future flourishing of the five lineages of Zen:
"One bud opens into five petals, and naturally ripens into fruit.*
The calligrapher of this scroll, Ôbaku Tetsugen, was among the first generation of Japanese converts to the Ôbaku sect of Zen. He was a disciple of Muan, whose calligraphy is seen just to the left. Tetsugen is perhaps the most beloved of the Ôbaku monks, for his selfless efforts to distribute inexpensively printed versions of the Buddhist scriptures and to organize aid to rural villagers during the great famine of 1682.
Arts of Zen, February 15-June 15, 2003
M. Graybill, Senior Curator of Asian Art
In traditional China, calligraphy was regarded as the highest of the arts because it was held to be the truest reflection of one’s character. To do calligraphy well required many years of disciplined practice and the study of the great works of earlier masters. For Chinese Chán and Japanese Zen monks, who were immersed in Chinese literati culture, calligraphy could thus be a form of self-portraiture. Just as the disciples and lay followers of a prominent Zen teacher would request painted copies of his likeness, so also did they seek to obtain authentic samples of his writing. Hanging scrolls such as this one were produced by the thousands to satisfy this market. The inscriptions were meant to have edifying content;
often they quote from or allude to the Zenrin kushû, a well-known collection of Zen sayings. The verse here, piously attributed to Bodhidharma, is the second of a two-line poem and seems to predict the future flourishing of the five lineages of Zen: “One bud opens into five petals, and naturally ripens into fruit.”
The calligrapher of this scroll, Ôbaku Tetsugen, was among the first generation of Japanese converts to the Ôbaku sect of Zen; he was a disciple of Muan Xingtao (known in Japan as Mokuan), whose calligraphy is also seen in the gallery. Tetsugen is perhaps the most beloved of the Ôbaku monks for his selfless efforts to distribute inexpensively printed versions of the Buddhist scriptures and to organize aid to rural villagers during the great famine of 1682.
Winter 2011 Gallery Rotation
Ôbaku Tetsugen
Japan, active 1630–1682
And Naturally Ripens into Fruit
circa 1660–1682
Edo Period (1615–1868)
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund, 1968/2.19
In traditional China, calligraphy was regarded as the highest of the arts because it was held to be the truest reflection of one’s character. To do calligraphy well required many years of disciplined practice and the study of the great works of earlier masters. For Chinese Chán and Japanese Zen monks, who were immersed in Chinese literati culture, calligraphy could thus be a form of self-portraiture. Just as the disciples and lay followers of a prominent Zen teacher would request painted copies of his likeness, so also did they seek to obtain authentic samples of his writing. Hanging scrolls such as this one were produced by the thousands to satisfy this market. The inscriptions were meant to have edifying content;
often they quote from or allude to the Zenrin kushû, a well-known collection of Zen sayings. The verse here, piously attributed to Bodhidharma, is the second of a two-line poem and seems to predict the future flourishing of the five lineages of Zen: “One bud opens into five petals, and naturally ripens into fruit.”
The calligrapher of this scroll, Ôbaku Tetsugen, was among the first generation of Japanese converts to the Ôbaku sect of Zen; he was a disciple of Muan Xingtao (known in Japan as Mokuan), whose calligraphy is also seen in the gallery. Tetsugen is perhaps the most beloved of the Ôbaku monks for his selfless efforts to distribute inexpensively printed versions of the Buddhist scriptures and to organize aid to rural villagers during the great famine of 1682.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A scene takes place in a red box, lined with black and red diamond and triangle designs for borders. In the center, a woman sites with a child in her lap. She wears a spotted dress, her hair up, and a nose ring and bindi. The child reaches one hand and places it atop her head, and the other down towards her own upward hands. Surrounding them are seven other figures. One kneels before them, offering his hands up, and another fans the woman from behind. The remaining five figures seem to play together in front of the throne on which the woman and child sit.
Subject Matter
Gadhari, daughter of the King of Gandhar and wife of Dhritarashtra, was blessed by Rishi Vyasa to have 100 sons. She was pregnant for two years, and finally gave birth to a mass of flesh. Vyasa instructed her to cut the flesh into 101 pieces and places them in jars, one for each of 100 sons and one for a daughter. In two more years, the jars provided her with her 101 children of the Kaurava clan.
Label Copy
In the Mahabharata, the most ancient of the great Indian epics, a rivalry between two clans of royal cousins leads to a devastating war. The two factions are the Kauravas (the one hundred sons of Dhritarashtra), and the Pandavas (the five sons of Dhritarashtra’s brother, Pandu). This scene of an early moment in the narrative depicts Dhritarashtra’s wife seated on a throne and surrounded by children. One can easily imagine that the artist drew on personal experience of boisterous children in his own household when he composed this lively scene. The horizontal format of this painting on paper mimics the shape of earlier manuscripts made from palm leaves.
Although this page dates to the nineteenth century, the assured quality of line here has many parallels to the style of earlier Indian painting. Folk paintings in India, such as this one, are often the product of long traditions that change little over distances of time and space.
Exhibited in "Divine Encounters, Earthly Pleasures: Twenty Centuries of Indian Art," 12/12/03-2/22/04.
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In the Mahabharata, the most ancient of the great Indian epics, a rivalry between two clans of royal cousins leads to a devastating war. The two factions are the Kauravas (the one hundred sons of Dhritarashtra), and the Pandavas (the five sons of Dhritarashtra’s brother, Pandu). This scene of an early moment in the narrative depicts Dhritarashtra’s wife seated on a throne and surrounded by children.
Although this page dates to the nineteenth century, the assured quality of line here has many parallels to the style of earlier Indian painting. Folk paintings in India, such as this one, are often the product of long traditions that maintain continuity over distances of time and space. The horizontal format of this painting on paper mimics the shape of earlier manuscripts made from palm leaves.
(6/28/10)
(South and Southeast Asia Gallery Rotation, Spring 2010)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
