Cover for a Buddhist manuscript

Three Buddhist deities emerge from intricate, swirling details carved into this manuscript cover. The Buddha of the West, Amitabha, appears on the left in a shrine framed by a “face of glory,” an auspicious emblem in Buddhist thought.

In the center is a four-armed figure. A symbolic thunderbolt appears at the upper left shoulder, and at the right a book—likely the Perfection of Wisdom, the text that these manuscript covers probably contained.

At the far right is the historical Buddha Shakyamuni touching the earth to witness his merits at the very moment of his enlightenment. Celestial eagles (garudas) and other divinities frame the two thrones on the right.