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A THANGKA OF JONANG TARANATHA
CENTRAL TIBET, 17TH CENTURY
Distemper on cloth; recto with Tibetan inscriptions in gold identifying each figure.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.23550
Image: 69 x 48 cm (27 x 19 in.);
With silks: 120 x 70 cm (27 x 27 in.)

HKD300,000 - 500,000

藏中 十七世紀 覺囊多羅那他唐卡

This thangka depicts the great historian, Taranatha (1575-1634), the foremost
sage of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism, one of the key Tibetan leaders of
the turbulent 17th century, and pivotal to any discussion of Mongolian Buddhism.

Gold is lavished upon the painted surface, heightening textiles, architecture, and
the verdant paradise with blue craggy rocks that nod to the tradition of landscape
painting in China. The thangka’s high quality resounds within its smallest details,
such as the draftsmanship of Taranatha’s elegant hands, the vigor of each mythical
beast within his elaborate mandorla, and the division of space through the employ
of subtle brown and green washes within the landscape.

Taranatha is one of the most frequently referenced Tibetan historians by modern
writers on the history of Buddhism. He was a polymath who penned a vast
bibliography, including numerous treatises on Buddhist philosophy, art, and “the
most important history of Indian Buddhism to be written in any language.” (Martin,
Tibetan Histories. A Bibliography of Tibetan Language Historical Works, London,
1997.) Taranatha was an avid patron of the arts and one of the principal agents
behind the ‘Pala Revival’ style in Tibet, commissioning the restoration of Pala-style
murals at his order’s primary enclave, the Jonang Puntsog Ling.

Escaping increasing pressure from Gelug domination and its policies of
‘unification’ within the 17th century, Taranatha spent his last years missionizing
dwindling Sakya monasteries in Mongolia. Subsequently, Mongolia’s great spiritual
leader, Zanabazar (1635-1723), was identified as Taranatha’s reincarnation,
upholding the latter’s reputation as “a man of deep learning who made his field
of enquiry as wide as humanly possible.” (Templeman, “Taranatha the Historian”,
in The Tibet Journal, vol.6, no.2, 1981, pp.41-6.) All eight of his Mongolian
incarnations held Taranatha’s posthumous epithet, Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu
(‘Venerable and Saint Master Incarnate’), until 1924.

Provenance
Rossi & Rossi Ltd., London
Private European Collection

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