The Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages in Attaining the Most Perfect Knowledge; The Eight Hosts of Deva, Naga, and Yakshi1454 · Study 1973.70

Context from the museum

The grandest of the Buddhist mortuary rites is the Water-Land ( shuilu ) ritual. This esoteric ceremony is conducted for the salvation of “all souls of the dead on land and sea.” The ostentatious ritual was performed for imperial ancestors and high officials from the Song (960–1279) to the Ming dynasties and drew large crowds. On the second day of the weeklong ceremony, paintings are hung in the inner altar. These two scrolls belong to a set of 36 Water-Land ritual paintings that are the finest works of their types known from the Ming period. With their bright, opaque color and fine-line gilt decoration intact and unfaded, both paintings share a remarkable state of preservation. In the upper right corner of each painting is an imperial seal and an inscription in gold reading: Donated on the third day of the eighth month in the fifth year of the Jingtai reign (1454) of the Great Ming . Written in ink in the lower left corner is the record that they were made on imperial order, probably to present them to the Da Longfu monastery in Beijing. One scroll represents the Eight Hosts of Celestial Nagas and Yakshis as described in the Lotus Sutra . The other represents Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages of Enlightenment undergoing the final processes toward Buddhahood. The sinuous curves of scarf and drapery, the layering of garments, and the minute detail all reflect the opulent visual atmosphere that surrounded the Ming worshipper in temples and spirit halls throughout the country.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting only measurement for The Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages in Attaining the Most Perfect Knowledge; The Eight Hosts of Deva, Naga, and Yakshi is 79.1 cm wide and 140.5 cm high, equivalent to approximately 31.1 × 55.3 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.56:1. The rectangular bounding area is 1.11 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 26.4% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 110.5 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With The Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages in Attaining the Most Perfect Knowledge; The Eight Hosts of Deva, Naga, and Yakshi in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 79.1 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?