Frontispiece for the Lotus Sutra, late 1100s. China, Song dynasty (960-1279). Handscroll, gold ink on indigo sutra paper; image: 27.8 x 81 cm (10 15/16 x 31 7/8 in.); inscription overall: 27.9 x 1044.9 cm (11 x 411 3/8 in.). The frontispiece of this sutra, a sacred Buddhist scripture, illustrates episodes mentioned in the Buddhas teaching. The sutra begins with a description of the historic Buddha Shakyamunis assembly on Vulture Peak. On the right, the Buddha sits amid members of his congregation: lohans (or arhats), bodhisattvas, gods, and other beings. The narrative proceeds from right to left. Heavenly light emanates from Shakyamunis brow to “illuminate the eighteen thousand worlds to the east.” Illustrated immediately below the ray is the sutras promise that if anyone carves or paints images of the Buddha “they will achieve the Buddha path.” The female figures in the frontispiece point to another promise made in this popular Mahayana school sutra, namely that female devotees a