This paper introduces and analyzes a new Chinese Manichaean painting entitled ‘Auspicious Signs Heralding Mānī’s Birth’. Zhang Peng 张鹏, a doctoral candidate at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (Zhongyang Meishu Xueyuan 中央美术学院), was the first to notice the Manichaean affiliation of this painting, which was auctioned by the Beijing Poly International Auction Co., Ltd (Beijing Baoli Guoji Paimai Youxian Gongsi 北京保利國際拍賣有限公司) in 2021. This study employs the methods of iconographic comparison and analysis of textual parallels to argue that the recently identified hagiographic painting shares striking stylistic similarities with at least three other previously known Manichaean paintings, and that it can be directly related to one of them.
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