Arhat

Creator not recorded by the museum

Date: 1235
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on silk
Dimensions: Image: 52.7 x 40.6 cm (20 3/4 x 16 in.); Overall: 140 x 54.1 cm (55 1/8 x 21 5/16 in.)
Country / context: Korea
Movement / tradition: Korean arts
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Pathway: Korean arts ↗

FROM THE MUSEUM

An arhat (Nahan in Korean), an advanced disciple of the Buddha, is represented here in profile with a halo encircling his head. This particular arhat is Segongyang jonja, numbered as the 464th of 500 arhats. He sits on a woven bamboo stool, is luring a dragon into an alms bowl. This hanging scroll is one of only about ten known works that survive today, all of which (except for Cleveland’s piece) are currently preserved in Korea or Japan.

Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0

A MOMENT TO LOOK

Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?

Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.

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