Multi-armed Pussa (Chinese Buddhist Devi), 1667
Original engraving
Published in 1667 in Amsterdam by Jacob Meurs within Athanasius Kircher's encyclopedic work China Monumentis, documenting East Asian religions and culture for a European audience
Engraving size: 13.8 x 8.7" / 35 x 22.5 cms
The engraving is pasted on a backing sheet, an additional small engraving of a lamp has been pasted under the main engraving, possibly not part of the original.
Sheet size: 17 x 10" / 43 x 26 cms
Non-exportable antiquity. Cannot be exported out of India.
(The work will be shipped without a frame. Framing is available on request.)
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Typus Pussæ seu Cybelis aut Isidis Sinensium from Athanasius Kircher’s China Illustrata (1667).
The multi-armed deity Pussa (representing a Chinese Bodhisattva, often likened by Kircher to the Greco-Roman goddess Cybele or Egyptian Isis). The central figure sits upon an aquatic lotus rising from waves, flanked by attendants and featuring multiple arms holding various symbolic attributes. Inscriptions: Features Chinese characters (such as moon/sun characters) alongside Latin labels describing the sacred attributes borrowed from Brahmanical/Buddhist traditions.
Athanasius Kircher uses the early modern scholarly framework of comparative mythology to decipher East Asian traditions for European readers. Instead of viewing the multi-armed Bodhisattva (Pussa/Guanyin) as an entirely isolated foreign entity, he syncs her with familiar ancient mother-goddesses. He equates her to Cybele (the Anatolian earth mother goddess) and Isis (the Egyptian goddess of magic and fertility), arguing that Pussa represents the personification of mother nature, fertility, and cosmic preservation within Chinese belief systems.
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Condition Report: In good condition overall: no major damage or tears. Foxing as is clearly visible in the image.
All artworks details are indicative / approximate.