Hiyama in IAZ 20-21
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Portrait of the Royal Patronage in Kizil Cave 60 (Größte Höhle) Satomi Hiyama 1. Introduction (1) Brush Stroke Style and Colouring: Two figures A mural fragment kept in the Asian Art Museum in Berlin visible in this mural painting are drawn in the so-called with the inventory number III 1070 (height 55 cm, width First Indo-Iranian painting style,4) characterized by refine 68 cm, Fig. 1) was removed from Kizil Cave 60 (Größte drawings picturing subtle facial expressions, and natu- Höhle) by the third Turfan expedition in 1906.1) Regis- ralistic modelling of the body highlighted by the delicate tered in the museum’s inventory after the Second World colouring. The brush strokes closely resemble those ob- War,2) this fragment was first published in China in served in Kizil Cave 207 (Malerhöhle, Fig. 3) and Kum- 2015.3) Despite the heavy damage on its surface, two tura Cave GK 22 (Zweite Kuppelhöhle der zweiten figures drawn with a refined brush stroke can be clearly Schlucht, Fig. 4); the delicate drawing technique observed recognized in this mural. in their faces even displays the highest class of the artistic Remarkably, the distinguished fashion of these figures quality among the First Indo-Iranian style paintings.5) and the cartouche placed beside them indicates their pos- (2) Composition: This mural fragment obviously be- sible identity as royal patrons. The aim of this paper is to longs to the upper part of the whole composition con- draw attention to two of less known aspects of Kuchean taining the representation of two figures, who face each Art History; namely, the possible existence of the portrait other. The figure on the right side is represented with of the royal patronage in the First Indo-Iranian style paint- multiple haloes. The head of this figure is positioned ings of Kucha, and the importance of Kizil Cave 60 higher than the other figure on the left, who has only a (Größte Höhle) in understanding how the actual Buddhist single halo, visually expressing the higher status of the monastic life was operated in the Kizil Caves. right figure than the other. What draws special attention is the presence of a hori- 2. Description zontal cartouche placed next to the head of the right fig- First, let’s try to describe all recognizable features of the ure, which is directly above the head of the left figure. In mural fragment III 1070 to better understand what the Kuchean iconographical convention, cartouches do not representation can tell us. The drawing made by the appear in narrative representations, but are most typically author (Fig. 2) may provide help in recognizing the faded appended to the portraits of actual donors. In Kizil Cave outlines. 207 (Malerhöhle), for example, the cartouches are ar- ranged directly above each portrait of four painters, 1) Although the museum’s inventory lacks information about its containing inscriptions referring to their profession as acquisition period, the record by GRÜNWEDEL proves that its removal from the right side wall of Kizil Cave 60 was under- taken in 1906 (Cf. GRÜNWEDEL 1912: 79 „Auf der and. Seite b war in halber Höhe, etwa 2 m v. Eing., noch der Rest eines 4) For the stylistic classification of the Indo-Iranian style paint- schönen Bildes erhalten, wie es scheint mit Spuren syrischer ings in Kucha, see WALDSCHMIDT 1933: 24-30. Schrift. Dieser Bilderrest ist jetzt im Museum.“). 5) The same kind of the navy pigment is used for colouring the 2) The mural fragments from East-Turkestan kept in Berlin, which cloth of one of the donors portrayed in Kizil Cave 118 (Hippo- are registered with the inventory number 1 to around 1000, were kampenhöhle, also painted in the First Indo-Iranian style, Inv.- first inventoried after the Second World War. No. III 8658). This fragment has not yet been published in col- 3) Cf. ZHAO et al. 2015: fig. 25 (without explanation of its icono- our (a monochrome drawing is available in GRÜNWEDEL 1912: graphical content). fig. 231). Indo-Asiatische Zeitschrift 20/21 % 2016-17: 39-51 40 S. HIYAMA Fig. 1 Kizil Cave 60, right side wall, Asian Art Museum, Berlin, Fig. 2 Drawing of III 1070 by the Author Inv. No. III 1070. Photograph © Museum für Asiatische Kunst SMB / Jürgen Liepe painters and their individual name (Fig. 3).6) The same The inscription inside the cartouche is unfortunately type of composition with a portrait of donors and car- no longer legible. Nevertheless, faded traces of some touche has been found in at least three caves at Kizil (in Bråhmï letters are still recognizable according to the ob- both the First and the Second Indo-Iranian style paintings, servation of Dr. Michaël Peyrot.11) Figs. 3, 5),7) twice in the Kumtura Caves (in both the On the other hand, there are still several letters in a Indo-Iranian style painting and in the Uyghur style paint- legible state written in a white strip found at the upper- ing)8) and once in the Kizilgaha Caves (in the Second most edge of this mural fragment. This kind of the write Indo-Iranian style painting).9) The strong convention of strip, often placed atop of a rectangular narrative scene, this type of cartouche can be observed in much later can also contain an inscription, as the cases of Kizil Cave Uyghur paintings in Turfan, too.10) 110, Kumtura Caves GK 22, 34 and 50 etc. show.12) When 1913: Tafel 16). They are identified respectively as Indian/To- 6) See GRÜNWEDEL 1912: 153, figs. 336-338. The inscriptions be- charian and Uyghur monks by KITSUDO (2013; also see 2017). gin with the word citrakåra (colour maker = painter), which is It is remarkable that not only Tocharian inscriptions but also followed by the individual name with the genitive ending -sya, Uyghur and Chinese inscriptions are written in these horizontal e.g. citrakåra tut÷kasya “(the portrait) of the painter Tut÷ka”. cartouches, even though the latter two scripts are written in a 7) In addition to the representations in Kizil Cave 207, representa- vertical manner and thus a horizontal format is apparently un- tions of noble donors with cartouches are known from a certain suitable. This may indicate the dominant convention of hori- cave at Kizil (cave number unknown, painted in the Second zontal cartouches in Tocharian Buddhism, which left its echo Indo-Iranian style, Inv.-No. III 8694a and b). For illustrations in Uyghur art. The author expresses her sincere gratitude to Dr. see Sérinde 1995: 131, pl. 81; Dokumentation der Verluste Koichi Kitsudo (Kyoto), who kindly shared inspiring discus- 2002: 167. Furthermore, GRÜNWEDEL (1912: 91) recorded the sions about the formats of cartouches in Central Asian Buddhist presence of donor figures accompanied by cartouches in Kizil paintings with the author. Cave 76 (Pfauenhöhle, painted in the First Indo-Iranian style). 11) The author expresses her deepest gratitude to Dr. Michaël 8) The donor figures with cartouche in Kumtura Cave GK 17, Peyrot (Leiden) for his most helpful support to recognize and depicted in the Second Indo-Iranian style, were recorded by decipher the inscription on this fragment. A core part of the GRÜNWEDEL (1912: 11-14) and are still kept in Berlin (Inv.- argument in this paper was developed while discussing with No. III 9067). See also Dokumentation der Verluste 2002: 183 Dr. Peyrot in front of the original mural fragment III 1070 kept (the fragment was partly damaged during the war). in the study collection of the Asian Art Museum, Berlin, in the 9) This fragment is kept in the Musée Guimet, Paris (MG 23799, winter 2016, and also through further personal correspondences. P. 450). For an illustration see GIÈS 1995: pl. 172. 12) For a detailed study on the inscriptions in Kizil Cave 110 see 10) In the Uyghur style paintings in Bezeklik Cave 20 (Turfan), PINAULT 2000; SCHMIDT 2010. For a recent study on the in- some portraits of monks with two different types of ethnicities scriptions in Kumtura Cave 34 see XINJIANG QIUQI YANJIU- were found with cartouches (for an illustration see LE COQ YUAN et al. 2014; on those in Kumtura Cave 50 see XINJIANG Portrait of the Royal Patronage in Kizil Cave 60 (Gröa¯te Höhle) 41 Fig. 4 Kumtura Cave GK 22 (Zweite Kuppelhöhle der zweiten Schlucht), ceiling, Asian Art Museum, Berlin, Inv. No. III 9053 (detail). Photograph © Museum für Asiatische Kunst / Jürgen Liepe 15) Fig. 3 Kizil Cave 207, left convention of Kucha. There are no other instances of side wall, photograph taken elaborate multi-strand necklaces made of voluminous by the 3rd German expedition pearl bands in Kuchean painting to the best of the au- in 1906 (B 548) © Museum thor’s knowledge. The figure has multiple haloes, which für Asiatische Kunst is a sign of her status either as a deity or a royalty. Her GRÜNWEDEL observed the inscriptions left on this mural headdress is worth to pay special attention. Its frontal part fragment, he recorded them as being written in the Syriac bears a snake-shaped ornamentation, which consists of at script.13) However, the close examination of the original least four snake heads looking forward. The back part of mural fragment by the author and Dr. Michaël Peyrot her headdress contains a semi-circular shaped, green-col- resulted in the conclusion that all the faded but still re- oured decoration, which looks like a kind of hairnet. At cognizable letters on this mural fragment are no doubt least three short bejewelled ribbons are attached on the ak¹aras of Bråhmï script. At least one of these ak¹aras top of this semi-circular decoration.