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Shakyamuni with two attendants

1300s

Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
Classification: Painting
Dimensions: Overall: 293.5 x 136 cm (115 9/16 x 53 9/16 in.); Painting only: 218.4 x 112.8 cm (86 x 44 7/16 in.); with knobs: 293.5 x 144.2 cm (115 9/16 x 56 3/4 in.)
Culture: China, Yuan (1271-1368) or early Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
Credit line: John L. Severance 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

About this work

The historic Buddha Shakyamuni is seated on an elaborately decorated pedestal and flanked by two attendants making gestures of devotion. The unknown artist used gold and deeply hued pigments to depict the luxurious fabrics, particularly the golden medallions of swirling dragons and clouds on the Buddha’s red robe.

The painting itself is mounted in a Buddhist style with two tiers of fine silk borders. The inner border of gold brocade on a cream background surrounds the painting. The outer border is yellow silk; decorative silk strips, called futai, dangle from the top hanging bar.