Ask the Scholar

Document scope · 1 page
obj
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory. For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.

Source Description

These panels, carved in low relief, must have originally adorned a Buddhist structure, perhaps a pagoda somewhere in northernmost China. The Walters owns fifteen panels; there are likely to have been many more at the original site, but no others have yet been identified, nor has the structure they covered been located. The reliefs may have been made in territories ruled by the non-Chinese Liao [Liao] dynasty.They depict Pratyekabuddha, one of 500 non-teaching independent Buddhas residing on a mountainside. According to a story in the Asokavadana, the sight of the 500 Pratyekahbuddhas engendered faith in a monkey, who made an offering to them of "withered leaves, roots, and fruits." Later, the Pratyekabuddhas is shown; he appears to be already dead, though the monkey does not realize it.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
77978
label
Architectural Panels with Scenes from a Bodhisattva Legend
core
obj
dtoType
sculpture
citationUrl
https://purl.thewalters.org/art/VO.3 (25.27, 25.28)
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
77978
sourceUrl
https://purl.thewalters.org/art/VO.3 (25.27, 25.28)
contentType
sculpture
stage
normalized
title
Architectural Panels with Scenes from a Bodhisattva Legend
description
These panels, carved in low relief, must have originally adorned a Buddhist structure, perhaps a pagoda somewhere in northernmost China. The Walters owns fifteen panels; there are likely to have been many more at the original site, but no others have yet been identified, nor has the structure they covered been located. The reliefs may have been made in territories ruled by the non-Chinese Liao [Liao] dynasty.They depict Pratyekabuddha, one of 500 non-teaching independent Buddhas residing on a mountainside. According to a story in the Asokavadana, the sight of the 500 Pratyekahbuddhas engendered faith in a monkey, who made an offering to them of "withered leaves, roots, and fruits." Later, the Pratyekabuddhas is shown; he appears to be already dead, though the monkey does not realize it.
provenance
Yamanaka & Co., New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
11th century
citationUrl
https://purl.thewalters.org/art/VO.3 (25.27, 25.28)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
architectural elements
panels
relief
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
53.4
height
28.9
dimensionsRaw
each panel: 21 x 11 3/8 in. (53.4 x 28.9 cm)
Source extras
cul
Chinese
dynasty
Liao [Liao] Dynasty
med
terracotta or tufa, with traces of white
creator_ids
6238
collection_ids
CHN
exhibition_ids
none
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
5da04b0f0ec25096