Mogao Cave 17: Two Avalokitesvara Bodhisattvas

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Tang dynasty

This symmetrical mid-9th century painting is composed of two images of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Both have white bodies, wear headdresses decorated with images of the Buddha, and are sheltered beneath a canopy. Their hair, which has balbous tips, falls to their waists. Each of their feet rests on a lotus pedestal. The Bodhisattva on the left forms a mudra with the right hand while holding a yellow flower in the left. Meanwhile, the Bodhisattva on the right grasps a willow branch in the left hand and holds a vase in the right hand. Both Bodhisattvas were colored using the wash technique, and details were added using fine, dark lines.
There is a two line inscription between the nimbuses of the figures stating the three sponsors of the painting: monk Yiwen of Yong’an Temple, devotees Juehui and Dong Wenyuan. They had returned to their homeland to pray for their deceased father and for deliverance from the Tibetan occupation of Dunhuang (781–847).