Mogao Cave 244

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang

This late Sui (581–618) to early Tang (618–907) dynasty cave is situated on the second level in the central section of the south area the site. It consists of an antechamber and a main chamber connected by a corridor. The antechamber and the corridor were both renovated during the Five Dynasties (907–960) and Song dynasty (960–1279). Within the corridor are donor portraits of Cao Yijin and Cao Yuande from the Five Dynasties.
The main chamber is 6.2 m wide and 6.6 m long. The truncated pyramidal ceiling still retains the remnants of crossbeams and wooden bracket sets, and Thousand Buddha images cover the four ceiling slopes. Three groups of statues stand on altars along the south, west, and north walls. The central figures are the Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future: Kasyapa Buddha and two Bodhisattvas are on the south wall; Sakyamuni Buddha, two disciples, and two Bodhisattvas are on the back (west) wall; and Maitreya Buddha and two attendant Bodhisattvas are on the north wall. The statues are large in scale and, apart from the two disciples, all have nimbuses painted on the walls behind them. The nimbus of Sakyamuni contains a ring of small Buddha images and is encompassed by a flame-patterned mandorla. On the four walls of the main chamber there are paintings of apsaras and the Buddha teaching the Dharma. The predominant colors used in the murals are blue, green, red, and black.