ID: 700008982 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008982	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Buddha Preaching the Law (painting (visual work); unknown Tang dynasty; ca. 701/750; British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United King...; 1919,0101,0.6 (Ch.liii.001))

Note: From Mogao Grottoes Cave 17, Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Large painting showing Buddha (probably Sakya-muni) preaching in a Paradise composition. This, one of the earliest among the paintings found in Cave 17 at Dunhuang, is also one of the best preserved and one that is clearly related to Sui and early Tang paradise or preaching scenes found on the walls of the caves themselves. Among the silk paintings, the closest parallel is the fragment of an Amitābha preaching scene from the Pelliot collection. The Buddha is seated under a jewelled bodhi tree forming a canopy, surrounded by four seated bodhisattvas and six monk disciples. A small figure of a female donor is in the bottom left-hand corner; the topknot of a male donor is visible in the bottom right. An apsaras is in the top right corner, and a blank carotuche in the front centre. The scene of a buddha preaching before an assembly of disciples, bodhisattvas, and other acolytes is the basic unit for much of Dunhuang art. The Buddha’s body was thought to be composed of elements perfected by countless good actions over innumerable rebirths, frequently described in texts as the thirty-two major and eighty minor “marks of a great man.”

Titles:

Buddha Preaching the Law (preferred,C,U,DE,English-P,U,U)

Painting / 繪畫 (C,U,RP,undetermined,U,U)

佛陀說法圖 (C,U,Chinese-P,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

painting (visual work) [300033618] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

Classifications:

Asian art (preferred)

Creation Date: ca. 701/750

Creator Display:

unknown Tang dynasty [preferred]

artist unknown Tang (Tang cultural designation) [500204343]

Locations:

Current: British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom) [500125180] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 1919,0101,0.6 (Ch.liii.001)

Credit Line: Collected by: Sir Marc Aurel Stein; Acquisition date 1919

Other: Discovery: Qianfodong [7029798] Gansu province (province), China (nation), Asia (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Ink and pigments on silk

	ink [300015012]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>)

	pigments [300013109]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, colorant (material))

	silk (silkworm material) [300014072]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, animal material, fibroinous material)

Dimensions: 139 × 102 cm (54 3⁄4 × 40 3⁄16 in.): in frame 163.3 x 121.5 x 4 cm

Cultures:

Chinese (preferred)

Style/Period/Group/Movement:

	Tang (Chinese culture, style, period) [300018420] (preferred,dynasty)
	.....(Styles and Periods Facet, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), <styles| periods| and cultures by region>, Asian, East Asian, Chinese (culture or style), Chinese dynastic styles and periods)

General Subject:

religion and mythology (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	Buddha Preaching [901001358]
	.....((Buddhist allegory, symbolism, theme, Buddhist iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

	paradise (doctrinal concept) [300055986]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), <religions and religious concepts>, religious concepts, doctrinal concepts) (AAT)

	Sakya-muni (Asian philosopher, founder of Buddhism, ca. 560-ca. 480 BCE) [500372531]
	.....(Non-Artists) (ULAN)

	bodhisattvas [300264360]
	.....(Agents Facet, People (hierarchy name), people (agents), <people by occupation>, <people in the humanities>, <people in religion and related occupations>, people in religion) (AAT)

	monks (people) [300025765]
	.....(Agents Facet, People (hierarchy name), people (agents), <people by occupation>, <people in the humanities>, <people in religion and related occupations>, people in religion, religious (people)) (AAT)

Provenance: Collected by: Sir Marc Aurel Stein; Acquisition date 1919 Exhibited: 1996 14 Jun-29 Sep, London, The British Library, The Mythical Quest 2007 8 Feb-5 Aug, BM Gallery 91, 'Gods, Guardians and Immortals: Chinese Religious Paintings' 2013 5 Oct – 29 Dec, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, The Making of Chinese Masterpieces: Chinese Painting from the 8th to 19th Centuries 2016 7 May-4 Sep, Los Angeles, Getty Research Institute, Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road

Related Works:

	former location was .... Mogao Cave 17 [700008877]
	..........rock-cut temple; N/A; begun 9th century

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

............... Works at Mogao

Sources and Contributors:
Buddha Preaching the Law	........ [VP]
	........ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016) Cat 9
Painting / 繪畫	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
佛陀說法圖	........ [VP]
	........ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)

Subject: ....... [VP]

....................... Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016) Cat 9

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)
	..... British Museum [online] (1999-)