"Jataka tales" are stories about the previous lives of Shakyamuni Buddha. This fragment comes from a mural depicting the events of one such tale: Visvantara Jataka. The original mural was found on the corridor wall of the fifth temple site of Miran, an ancient city once located along the southern part of the Silk Road, in what is now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China. The fragment was collected in 1911, as part of an archaeological expedition led by Otani Kozui. In the tale, Prince Visvantara was exiled after giving an enemy country an auspicious elephant with the power to bring rain. During his exile, the prince gave away everything he had, including his horse and carriage, and even his wife and two sons. With its emphasis on the practice of giving, this story was widely popular in India and Central Asia. In this fragment, the prince is leading the elephant. The strong shading and sharp facial features show the influence of Hellenistic and Roman arts.