The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India

Jainism, a major religion of India with six million adherents, emphasizes nonviolence, liberation from the cycle of rebirth, strict vegetarianism, modest living and acts of devotion. Despite the Jains' ideal of nonattachment to the physical world, their cosmographic paintings, sculptures, elegant temples, architectural reliefs and domestic shrines include works of imaginative splendor, as revealed in this wide-ranging catalogue of a traveling exhibition, which combines 229 illustrations, 88 in color, with eminently readable essays.