id:			150036
accession number:	1980.25
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1980.25
updated:		2023-09-15 11:23:04.667000

Ascetic Holding a Skull, c. 500. China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534). Gilt bronze; overall: 19.4 cm (7 5/8 in.); figure: 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1980.25

title:				Ascetic Holding a Skull
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 500
creation date earliest:		450
creation date latest:		550
current location:		241C Chinese Buddhist Sculptures
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)
technique:	gilt bronze
department:	Chinese Art
collection:	China - Northern Dynasties
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 19.4 cm (7 5/8 in.); Figure: 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Year in Review: 1980
	opening date:   1981-06-24T04:00:00
	<i>Year in Review: 1980</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935-6, cat. no. 522, p. 52 (Royal Academy of Arts)<br>Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939, no. 61<br>Fogg Museum of Art 1939-45

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PROVENANCE

	Major General Sir Neill Malcolm
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
The figure holding the skull has been identified as Mrgasirsa, who sought Buddha’s teaching on how to
determine the karma and transmigration of the arhats. Mrgasirsa appears with Vasistha in some of the wall
paintings of the Mogao grottoes in Dunhuang.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Misugi, Takatoshi. Chūgoku kinseki tōji zukan. Ōsaka: Chūgoku Kinseki Tōji Zukan Kankōkai, 1961. 
	page number: 	
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.25/1980.25_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.25/1980.25_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.25/1980.25_full.tif