Hariti Rescuing Her Son

CHINA; Yuan dynasty

According to the Samyukta Ratna Pitaka Sutra, when the Buddha learned that Hariti was killing children, he hid her youngest son beneath an inverted alms bowl. Frantic, Hariti struggled to free him, and came to realize how she was harming others by depriving them of their own children. This painting is one of the oldest images of Hariti attempting to rescue her son.
In the middle of the painting, demons use a system of levers and pulleys to attempt to lift the alms bowl. The Buddha sits on the right, and Hariti is on the left, standing beside the pulley. The Buddha is accompanied by the Ten Great Disciples, and Vajrapanibalin stands in front of him. Behind the Buddha are 19 deities, whom with Hariti, they are known as the Twenty Deities.
The seal of the artist, Zhu Yu, is at the top of the picture. He came from Kunshan (present day Jiangsu), and was taught by Wang Zhenpeng, a court painter of the Yuan dynasty.