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Lot 1834
THE JAIN UNIVERSE IN HUMAN FORM (LOKAPURUSA)
Estimated Value:
1.500 € - 2.500 €
Schätzpreis:
2.400 €
Description:
Gujarat or Rajasthan, ca. 17th c.84 x 28 cm R.
The Jain universe is already described in detail in the early Jain tradition and became an important theme of Jain literature, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries. At the same time, the universe also became a motif of Jainist art. In addition to miniatures made for illustration in cosmological manuscripts, large-format fabric paintings were created that usually showed the cosmos in the form of a 'world man' (Sanskrit: lokapuruṣa). In outline, the Jain universe resembles an hourglass, which in painting form the upper and lower body of the cosmic man and are composed of a multitude of coloured squares, thus indicating the different levels of the heavens and hells. In the lower section, which extends hip-downwards from the lokapuruṣa, the seven levels of the hells and the torments of hell are depicted. The upper section is formed by the superimposed planes of the heavens, which extend into the face of the 'world man' and are marked by the images of the celestial kings, the rulers of the heavenly regions. A circular disc in the hip region of the lokapuruṣa shows the central continent of Jambudvīpa as a section of the middle world (madhyaloka) inhabited by humans and animals. On the forehead, a reclining crescent moon marks the paradisiacal place at the apex of the universe where the jinas reside after their redemption. The depiction of the 'World Man' is based on representations of the Jina in early modern miniature painting (so-called West Indian style). This is evident in the design of the face and the crown, but above all in the Aśoka tree blossoms that hang down from long stems and frame the head like a nimbus. Flanking the head of the 'world man' are two gods with jars, as depicted for the consecration of the jinas in the miniatures of the Jin legend. Just like the richly decorated canopy at the upper edge of the picture and the border-like base, these divine beings resemble corresponding images in Jain miniature painting and bring the fabric painting stylistically close to the West Indian schools of painting.
From an important private collection in northern Germany, largely collected in India from the early 1950s until the 1980s - Cut line, wear, minor damages due to age, framed under glass
