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

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In the foreground, the kneeling figure offering, on outstretched hands, an

imposing censer seems to be a person of distinction belonging to some non-

Buddhist religious order. His costume seems to consist of three garments; one,

buff or yellow with long sleeves; a cloak of dull vermilion, banded with yellow

reaching almost to the knees, the green lining showing at the lower edge falling

from the two forearms and at the left knee; and an under-robe of dull carmine (an

unusual colour in these pictures) showing at the right breast, over the right forearm,

and covering the knees. He has thick eyebrows and ears of normal length. Shading

of the flesh has faded, but there is a slight greyness on the shaven chin. Above and

behind are two devatás, one almost entirely broken away. The other, partly hidden

by the vesica of the Buddha, turns to signal with the hands the progress of the dis-

course. The gracefully dressed hair, outlined with red against the forehead, is

adorned with an elaborate mukuta (tiara), from which flowing white ribbons seem

to be animated by the wind. Of the two monks above, one is elderly, rather bald,

with bushy greying eyebrows, like those of the kneeling figure, and a nose that

projects more abruptly than usual. From his costume, very similar to that of the

kneeling donor, he probably belongs to the same order; and the rosary round his

neck with pendent cross suggests that he may be a Christian or Manichaean, and

from the type of features, a foreigner. The pose of the hands indicates that he is

following the points of the sermon. The other, a younger monk, his hands in the

anjalí pose, wears a Buddhist robe. The finger- and toe-nails of all the figures are

pointed.

The general background is slate-grey with scattered red flowers and green

leaves, and the border to right has repeating `cloud' flowers.

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