Yulin Cave 35: Artist and Artisan as Donors

CHINA, Gansu, Guazhou; Five Dynasties

These two figures are among a group of images depicting donors, which are located along the bottom of the front (east) wall within the main chamber. The right side of the doorway depicts eight male donors, while the left side contains a group of female donors. These two figures are the third and fourth donors on the right side. They wear robes, leather belts, and official’s hats, and hold imperial court batons in both hands. The cartouches identify them as an artisan and a painter, which is particularly interesting as it is extremely rare to see the names and portraits of artists and artisans as donors of a cave.
In Shazhou, during the Cao regime, there was a painting academy in Dunhuang which was responsible for cave restoration and the creation of Buddhist sculptures and murals. According to ancient documents discovered within Mogao Cave 17 and cartouches of donors found in the Yulin Caves and Mogao Caves, scholars deduce that the academy employed numerous types of artists and artisans, including painters, sculptors, calligraphers, engravers, cave cutters, and stone masons.