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Lot 1835

THE JAIN UINIVERSE

Estimated Value:

600 € - 1.000 €

Schätzpreis:

1.100 €

Description:

Gujarat or Rajasthan, ca. 18th c. or later
40 x 28,5 cm R.
The painting shows the outline of the Jain universe against a greenish-turquoise background and framed by a yellow-red frame with the inscription śrībhavatīlokaka. The image is limited to a symbolic suggestion of the heavens and hells, each consisting of several levels. In the lower half of the picture, the seven levels of the hells are depicted, with each level divided into three parts against a blue background showing the torments to be endured there. In the upper half of the picture are the heavens, whose eight lower levels are symbolised by the bird-shaped vehicles of the kings of the gods residing there. The higher celestial spheres above are only indicated by coloured lines. Above them, at the top of the universe, is the place of the perfected souls (siddhaloka), where the jinas reside after their redemption. The side areas of the universe, which are filled in the descriptions of heavens and hells, are not rendered in detail by the artist, but are instead provided with decorative flower tendrils.
From an important private collection in northern Germany, collected mainly in India from the early 1950s until the 1980s