Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Kings of Hells: Leaf 29, 1200s. This leaf belongs to the album’s second series of narratives, Ten Kings of Hells. It demonstrates a Chinese-Buddhist approach in which the netherworld is divided into ten realms, each ruled by one of these kings. This particular version portrays the king in a benevolent guise, though his identity remains unclear. He holds an ivory plaque, is draped in a robe, and wears a hat that sports two slender side arms—similar to the headgear worn by Song dynasty emperors. A vertical scroll hangs to his left, depicting in
Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Kings of Hells: Leaf 29, 1200s. This leaf belongs to the album’s second series of narratives, Ten Kings of Hells. It demonstrates a Chinese-Buddhist approach in which the netherworld is divided into ten realms, each ruled by one of these kings. This particular version portrays the king in a benevolent guise, though his identity remains unclear. He holds an ivory plaque, is draped in a robe, and wears a hat that sports two slender side arms—similar to the headgear worn by Song dynasty emperors. A vertical scroll hangs to his left, depicting in the lower two-thirds a rectangular architectural plan with buildings aligned in a symmetrical arrangement not unlike a Buddhist temple or a Confucian shrine. Above, the scene also features a building and could show a specific mountain. One of the Ten Kings is known as the King of Taishan (or Mt. Tai). This depiction would represent a unique treatment of the king, not shared with other renditions of the same figure elsewhere.
Size: 4480px × 3988px
Photo credit: © Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1127-1279, album, art, china, cleveland, dynasty, heritage, ink, museum, painting, paper, song, southern, unknown
