Mogao Cave 17: Standing Bodhisattvas

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Later Zhou dynasty

This long banner has a rectangular headpiece instead of the conventional triangle. The inscription is only partially legible, but reveals that the banner is associated with the Medicine Buddha, and states that the merit from the creation of the artwork is dedicated to the artists’ family members, who they miss after a long period of separation.
Nine Bodhisattvas, each identified by an inscription within a cartouche, are painted on the banner. The figures are only partially visible, but all of the Bodhisattvas stand on lotus pedestals, wear stoles draped around their arms, and have nimbuses. The images are drawn in a light-toned red color. Because the banner is so long, it is thought to have once hung beside one of the large statues in Dunhuang.