Prince Vessantara Jataka

THAILAND

This picture is part of a Traiphum manuscript from the Ayutthaya Kingdom (circa 1350–1767). It is based on the Prince Vessantara Jataka, Pali Jataka No. 547. In one of his previous lives, the Buddha was Prince Vessantara, a man so generous that he gave away everything he owned. He even gave away his two children to an old brahmin named Jujaka.
In the painting, Jujaka is depicted as a somewhat hideous figure with a hooked nose, a hunched back, and knobby limbs. He raises a long stick menacingly and pulls on a rope that binds the two children together. The children turn away and raise their hands in fear. They wear gold ornaments and tiger-skin clothes. A single colorful nimbus is painted behind them. In the upper register, two antelopes leap beside gray mountains. The composition is simple, and the borders are less decorative than those seen in many other Thai illustrations.