Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Kings of Hells: Leaf 35

Discussion

FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

This ink line drawing belongs to a set of leafs illustrating the Ten Kings of Hell. The king here seems to render a verdict on four deceased souls: the plaintiffs are an old couple kneeling in the middle and facing the king, the accused are the younger couple to their left. The man of the latter group bares his upper body. The illustration belongs to a series of 50 ink line drawings that probably served professional artists in workshops as models for mural and silk paintings, commissioned by temples and monasteries.

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