Mogao Cave 3: Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Yuan dynasty

Located on the north wall, this is one of the six Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva images in Cave 3. The Bodhisattva wears a crown, long flowing robes, and various jeweled ornaments, and stands upon a lotus pedestal. An eye appears in each palm of the one thousand hands that form a circle around the Bodhisattva, and there is a third eye on the forehead. On the left is Mahadevi holding a lotus and on the right is Vasu. Warriors are depicted at the bottom on each side, and apsaras making flower offerings are surrounded by auspicious clouds in the top corners.
The painting uses mainly ink and brush in a simple style with clear lines. The integration of color washes and lines appear natural and neat. The most conspicuous feature is the use of different brush techniques to effectively render the complicated folds of the garments and ribbons.