About this artwork
This affable and remarkably zany cast of characters plays upon the festive atmosphere of an annual celebration held to commemorate the birth of the historical Buddha and his first shower by water-bearing dragons. Some of the disciples pictured flaunt pseudo-religious “miracles”: one opens his stomach to reveal the Buddha nature within and another magically creates a temple in mid-air. Other disciples nonchalantly engage on superficially mundane activities that allude to Buddhist conduct, such as mending clothes and reading sutras. A lion, elephant, tiger, dragon, and phoenix are also in attendance; some serve as traditional vehicles of Buddhist deities, whereas others are more generally auspicious. Together, these personalities exude the vitality of a secularized but nonetheless sincere faith.
-
Status
- Currently Off View
-
Department
- Arts of Asia
-
Artist
- Hua Ziyou
-
Title
- Bathing of the Buddha Festival
-
Place
- China (Artist's nationality:)
-
Date
- 1833
-
Medium
- Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
-
Inscriptions
- 道光癸巳浴佛節 鄂渚生華子宥敬寫 Festival of the bathing of Buddha in1883, respectfully written by Hua Ziyou of Hubei.
-
Dimensions
- 108.9 × 54.2 cm (42 7/8 × 21 3/8 in.)
-
Credit Line
- Bequest of Joseph Winterbotham
-
Reference Number
- 1954.384
-
IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/80720/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
