Digambara Jain manuscript page: Jina and devotees / Artist Unknown, India, Sirohi School
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1975/2.176
- Title
- Digambara Jain manuscript page: Jina and devotees
- Artist Nationality
- Indian
- Medium and Support
- ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
- Object Creation Date
- circa 18th century
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- India (nation)
- Rajasthan (state)
- Sirohi (inhabited place)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- India (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Rajasthan (state)
- Creation Place 4
- Sirohi (inhabited place)
- Style/Group/Movement
- Sirohi, Jain mss.
- Dimensions
- 18.4 cm x 29 cm (7 1/4 in. x 11 7/16 in.)
- Century
- 18th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- album leaf
- Secondary Object Classification
- Books and Folios
- Secondary Object Type
- manuscript
- Physical Description
- Multi-colored ink on paper. Prominent reds, yellows and blues. Six figures, three smaller (clothed), three larger (nude or semi-nude). Scene of worship.
- Subject Matter
- In the Jain religion, book production reflects the integral relationship among the laity, monastic community, and the Jina, or enlightened Jain teacher. The dedication of sacred books for shrines is required of devotees, while commissioning a book fulfills the lay obligation of charity, and beholding a book helps the individual achieve the proper mental state for spiritual guidance. It was customary for a lay donor to commission a copy of a text for presentation to his spiritual teacher and ultimately to the temple library. Over the centuries, monastic libraries received great quantities of texts, which were employed in the instruction of monks and nuns, themselves discouraged from practicing the art of painting: one text expressly warns of the power of painting to arouse sensual feelings.
- In these colorful pages, the golden-hued Jinas and the monks who venerate them are nude, identifying them as belonging to the Digambara (sky-clad) sect of Jainism. A central concern of many medieval hymns and rituals is curing disease with many of the verses promising relief from sickness. The verse that originally accompanied the page on the right was about dropsy, more commonly known as edema. The patient is reclining, belly visibly swollen. The verse tells us, “Those who have been utterly wrecked by their burdensome, swollen abdomens, who are plagued by the terrible disease of dropsy and have given up all hope, become as handsome as the god of Love himself, their bodies anointed with a life-saving nectar, the dust from your lotus feet.” Reciting this verse in prayer to the Jina brings relief from this unendurable disease.
- The page on the left praises the divine drum that resounds on the Enlightenment of the Jina, proclaiming the greatness of his teaching. We see in the upper register the Jina seated in meditation with the naked monk Manatuga at his side. In the lower register two gods beat kettle drums, while a third god dances and beats a tambourine.
- Primary Keywords
- album leaf
- arrows
- deity
- figures (representations)
- illness
- manuscripts
- nudes
- painting
- reclining
- sitting
- torches (lighting devices)
- Secondary Keywords
- asian
- associated concepts
- biological concepts
- forms
- furnishings
- furnishings by form or function
- health and related concepts
- health-related concepts
- lighting devices
- lighting devices by form
- making art
- objects we use
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people by state or condition
- physical activities
- physical activities by general context
- projectile weapons
- projectile weapons with nonexplosive propellant
- projectiles with nonexplosive propellant
- scientific concepts
- text-based art
- torches and torch holders
- visual works
- visual works by subject type
- weapons
- weapons and ammunition
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1345 x 853
- File Size
- 153 KB
- Record
- 1975/2.176
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1975-sl-2.176/1975_2.176.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
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- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1975-SL-2.176:1975_2.176.JPG
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- Full citation
-
"Digambara Jain manuscript page: Jina and devotees; Artist Unknown, India, Sirohi School." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1975-sl-2.176/1975_2.176.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 13, 2024.