Bodhisattva Amoghapasa, Leaf from a dispersed Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Manuscript
Unknown Artist
12th century
Medium
Ink and color on palm leaf
Dimensions
Image: 2 × 21 3/8 in. (5.1 × 54.3 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
India, Bihar or West Bengal · Pala period
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Anonymous Gift, 1985
Accession Number
1985.400.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite palm-leaf folio from the 12th, originating from Bihar or West Bengal during India's Pala period, depicts the Bodhisattva Amoghapasa, a compassionate form of Avalokitesvara known for his unfailing lasso that rescues sentient beings from suffering. It forms part of a dispersed *Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita*, a foundational Mahayana Buddhist text extolling the "Perfection Wisdom" in eight thousand stanzas. Created by an unknown artist in the vibrant Pala school, renowned for its patronage of Buddhism, this leaf once belonged to a luxurious, multi-folio sutra illuminated to aid med...