Two paintings (pair) on silk, several collector seals. China, Ming Dynasty
A somewhat unusual painting emanating humor, with notable skillful brushwork in the faces, showing us two times nine Luohan. Luohan, in Sanskrit called Arhas, are Buddhist saints in direct succession to Buddha. Some also call them the Buddhist “apostles“, although one should show restraint with such comparisons. The vertical composition is almost entirely taken up with a churning ocean in both paintings. Only in the uppermost area are exposed rocks and clouds recognizable, in the other picture there is a big black cloud with a dragon. The most famous of the present Luohans is Budai, the corpulent monk, in our latitudes called “fat-bellied Buddha“, to some degree misunderstood but popular, an incarnation of the Buddha Maitreya and as Luohan familiar under the Sanskrit name Upadhyaya. In the most upper picture level (right picture from the two illustrated), he takes center stage holding, as customary, a rose wreath and swimming on a lotus leaf. Other Luohans ride fishes, certainly the best choice in the ocean, but also on exotic animals like dragons and tigers (Arhas Bharadvaja), or Vakula On, the three-legged toad. The Arhas who looks similar to Bodhidharma, below right, is possibly Dharmatatra. In this painting are altogether three red seals, offering us an interesting hint about the collector, namely Jin Cheng von Gushang. A further seal states “venerable collector´s piece“, the third „old swallow Jin Cheng from Zhangyan hall“. The left picture has no seal, but shows us as well nine Luohans, also riding waves on fantastic animals (fish, turtles, giant crabs, lions). At the very top, Arhas Panthaka points to the dragon on the cloud. The lowest Luohan stands with dry feet on a rock and is perhaps Ajita. In general, however, the iconography of this saint is always vague - here more especially popular and full of fantasy. ç¾…æ¼¢åå…«å°Šåƒä¸€å°ã€‚設色絹本。 中國，明代。高147厘米， 寬36.厘米。德國舊è—。
SIZE EACH 147 x 36,8 CM
From an old German collection
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