Arhat

1235

Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on silk
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
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.)
Culture
Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Korean Art
Credit line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

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.