COMMEMORATING BUDDHA’S PASSING: A JAPANESE NEHAN-ZU SCROLL AT THE NGV – TAASA Review June 2015
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This article was originally found in the June 2015 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 24, Issue 2, Page 20).
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Wayne Crothers B uddha’s parinirvana or the death of Buddha is one of the most popular narrative subjects in Buddhist art.
Throughout the Buddhist world the scene of the enlightened Gautama Buddha’s passing from this world to the next can be found in monumental sculptures and large scale paintings.
As Buddhism traversed eastward across China, preeminent examples of sculptures and painted murals of the parinirvana can be found at historical places of worship like the Magao cave temples near Dunhuang and sculptured cliff faces of Dazu near Chongqing. Death of Buddha (Buddha’s parinirvana), Nehan-zu, Japan, 19th century, pigments and gold paint on silk, 255.8 x 233.0 cm (overall)...