Seven Leaves from a Manuscript of the Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)

1000s-1100s

Seven Leaves from a Manuscript of the Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array), 1000s-1100s. Nepal. Gum tempera and ink on palm leaves; overall: 4.2 x 52.4 cm (1 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1955.49 These pages come from a long horizontal book of 355 palm leaves, now dispersed among many collections. Featuring the pilgrim Sudhana on his quest to reach enlightenment, the text was especially influential in the spread of Buddhism to East Asia. These leaves are from the sole surviving illustrated manuscript of this text in its original language of Sanskrit. Russian artist Svyatoslav Roerich (1904–1993) collected 144 pages of this manuscript in India.