Cirong wushisan xian 慈容五十三現

One of the finest examples of Chinese woodcut portraiture

28 sheets. 23,5 x 26 cm. New portfolio.

An incomplete set of the Cirong wushisan xian 慈容五十三现 [53 images and anectodes relating to the Bodhisattva Guanyin].

This is one of the best known late Ming picture albums of Guanyin, the most important of the four Boddhisattvas revered in China. The pictures illustrate the different manifestations that Guanyin assumes in response to the varying conditions of those in need of salvation. In the absence of prefaces and colophons, it is difficult if not impossible to date the various editions.

One of the most curious of these portraits is actually of a westerner (the first image displayed).

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