Vairocana

Vairocana , 1454, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Where object was made: China

Material/technique: ink; color; silk

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 154.7 x 96 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 60 7/8 x 37 13/16 in
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 285.8 x 115.6 cm
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 112 1/2 x 45 1/2 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: R. Charles and Mary Margaret Clevenger Fund, and Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund

Accession number: 1996.0106

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Exhibition Label:
“The Sacred and the Secular: Buddhist Imagery in Religious and Popular Contexts,” Oct-2005, Hillary Pedersen
This exquisitely painted Vairocana comes from a set of more than sixty scrolls, of which thirty-four are now in the Musée Guimet, Paris and two are in the Cleveland Museum of Art. The location of the rest are unknown. Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha, is the central figure in the Buddhist pantheon and is likely the central image of the set. Sets of this type were used in a Buddhist mortuary ceremony known as the Water-Land Ritual, a service that was conducted for the salvation of all the souls of the dead on land and water. When the ritual was conducted, the paintings, including images of Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian and popular deities, would be hung in a processional arrangement around a hall, with Buddhist images in places of honor.

According to the inscriptions on the paintings in the set, they were made in imperial workshops for the use of the imperial households in 1454, under the supervision of court eunuchs. Though the Water-Land ritual was sponsored by families of all levels of society, the set from which this Vairocana comes represents the intimate involvement of the Ming imperial household in the production of Buddhist ritual art.

Exhibition Label:
"Asian Gallery," Jul-2003, Youmi Efurd
Vairocana is the cosmic Buddha, who spreads the light of Buddhist Truth in every direction, and embodies the Wisdom of Universal Law. This painting comes from a set of scrolls used in the Buddhist mortuary rite, the Water-Land Ritual. This ceremony is conducted for the salvation of “all the souls of the dead on land and sea,” especially the sponsoring family’s (or families’) ancestors and relatives.
According to the inscriptions, this painting was imperially commissioned in the Jingtai reign era (1454) of the Great Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Archive Label 2003:
This exquisitely painted Vairocana comes from a set of more than sixty scrolls, of which thirty-four are now in the Musee Guimet, Paris and two are in the Cleveland Museum of Art. The location of the rest are unknown. Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha, is the central figure in the Buddhist Pantheon and is likely the central image of the set. Sets of this type were used in a Buddhist mortuary ceremony known as the Water-Land Ritual, a service that was conducted for the salvation of all the souls of the dead on land and water. When the ritual was conducted, the paintings, including images of Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian and popular deities, would be hung in a processional arrangement around a hall, with Buddhist images in places of honor.

According to the inscriptions on the paintings in the set, they were made in imperial workshops for the use of the imperial households in 1454, under the supervision of court eunuchs. Though the Water-Land ritual was sponsored by families of all levels of social status, the set from which this Vairocana comes represents the intimate involvement of the Ming imperial household in the production of Buddhist ritual art.