Mogao Cave 17: Eleven-Headed, Eight-Armed Avalokitesvara

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Five Dynasties

In this painting from Mogao Cave 17, Avalokitesvara sits on a lotus throne, surrounded by a nimbus and a patterned aureole. There is an urna between the eyebrows of the round central face. The rest of the heads are arranged in rows. Billowing stoles are wrapped around the arms. Two of the hands form mudras in front of the chest. Two raised hands support a red sun disc containing a bird and a white moon disc containing a tree. The other hands hold a lotus, carry a vase, or form a mudra.
A canopy hangs above Avalokitesvara. Heavenly Kings with thick mustaches and decorative armor occupy the upper corners. Beside the central figure, there are two kneeling Bodhisattvas with patterned nimbuses. Two small naga kings stand in a pond below the lotus throne. Beside the pond, two Wisdom Kings are shown in dynamic poses, surrounded by flames.
In the lower register, A male figure in a black hat and robe and a nun wearing a monastic robe kneel on platforms. The man has a beard and holds an incense burner. According to the inscription in the center, he is Cheng Enxin, a government official, who commissioned the painting and dedicated it to his sister, the nun Miaoda of Dacheng Temple. She is depicted on the right, and is accompanied by a smaller standing nun. Cheng’s name also appears in the inscriptions on the west wall of Mogao Cave 98.