Arhat

1235

Maker Unknown

Korean Art

Arhat, 1235. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on silk; image: 52.7 x 40.6 cm (20 3/4 x 16 in.); overall: 140 x 54.1 cm (55 1/8 x 21 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1979.71 An arhat (Nahan in Korean), an advanced disciple of the Buddha, is represented here in profile with a halo encircling his head. This particular arhat is Segongyang jonja, numbered as the 464th of 500 arhats. He sits on a woven bamboo stool, is luring a dragon into an alms bowl. This hanging scroll is one of only about ten known works that survive today, all of which (except for Cleveland’s piece) are currently preserved in Korea or Japan. This painting that depicts an arhat, a human being who has achieved enlightenment, used to be part of a set of 500 hanging scrolls.

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