国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

PLATE XIV

PAINTING FROM BEZEKLIK

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Bez. iii. C—F

ROM the north-west wall of corridor. This fragmentary painting is part of one

of a series, all designed after the same model, repeated many times, with

slight variations, in the Bezeklik shrines. The central figure the Buddha

ever expounding, is always attended by monks, devatás or Bodhisattvas, and others;

but although the same formula is followed, each picture is doubtless intended to

illustrate an incident recorded in the Birth Stories, although not always identifiable

because of the absence of those figures which might provide the clue.

In the present example, there stands the Buddha, irradiated by gorgeous vesica and

nimbus, expounding as usual, the right hand raised in vitarka mudrá, thumb against

finger indicating the progress of the discourse. With slight downward inclination

of the head, he seems to be addressing a donor, probably in obeisance at his feet.

But the donor is missing. It will be seen that resting lightly on the upraised left

hand of the Buddha is a length of some striped fabric. We are told that the Buddha

received many gifts of garments from his worshippers, and this, doubtless, repre-

sents such a gift presented by the missing donor, who is being rewarded by the

delivery of one of the Buddha's famous homilies. The fabric presented is of red-

brown (saffron?) colour, striped with yellow.

The Buddha wears a red-brown robe over a grey under-robe, showing at his

left breast. A jewelled garland hangs round the shoulders and crosses the front of

the body. The links are alternately gold rosettes and lozenges, with a coloured bead

at every joint, and a bead on each outer edge of every rosette. Rosettes and lozenges

are chased and have coloured centre-jewels.

The field of nimbus and vesica is filled with zigzag bands of colour red, grey,

green, pink in various tones with yellow dividing bands, surrounded by a yellow

border with a scroll pattern in red. An outer zone of coral-like cloud-scrolls has

the same colours as the zigzag field, but shaded from dark along the centre of each

scroll to nearly white at the edges.

In the foreground, on the left, stands a devatá or Bodhisattva, in an- jab' pose, turned

towards the centre. The face, damaged, is pale; the hair, grey, with top-knot and

heavy tresses falling behind the shoulders, and studded with gold, voluted orna-

ments. The mukuta or tiara, tied with a white taenia, has a group of three gold

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