Page 29 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

Three
Composition

By the time the painter sat down to begin his sketch enlightenment by means of a ritual consecration
he already had in mind the main contents and design of ceremony (rab gnas). Religious paintings that were
the thangka. Usually the patron had indicated to the not rten also existed in Tibet, including paintings that
painter precisely which deities he wanted depicted. taught or illustrated some aspect of Buddhist doctrine
Sometimes the patron also furnished a diagram that but did not mainly depict the form of Buddhas or
showe~ the names and relative positions of each figure deities. Paintings of the latter type could probably
in the painting, such diagrams often having been com- best be called "didactic" paintings. They include both
posed by the lama of the patron. When the patron straightforward illustrations of religious objects and
provided no diagram but knew exactly what he or she monastic accessories, and symbolical representations
wanted, the painter carefully noted down the plan for of religious and cosmological concepts and themes.
his records, particularly if the painting was at all Only a small number of paintings did not fit into
complicated or if he had a backlog of commissions. either the rten or didactic classes. Among them were,
With such a diagram or plan in hand, the job of for instance, paintings that had a ritual use as
establishing the composition was simplified. The artist surrogate offerings in relation to a main rten image,
then had only to divide up the painting surface, allo- such as the dmar rdzas (depictions of sacrifices) placed
cating the proper amount of space to each figure and before the images of wrathful guardians in the
sketching in the general outlines of the landscape. But Protectors' Chapel (mgon khang). There were a few
if the patron could provide no more than the names of other unusual types of painting, such as poetical
the figures to be painted, it was often up to the artist to diagrams and protective and astrological diagrams and
design a suitable layout. For a painting with multiple yantras. But here we will mainly be concerned with
images the artist would first determine from the patron rten and didactic paintings and the varieties that they
which figure was to be the main one and which figures included.
were subordinate, and he could then proceed with
laying out the design. In many instances, however, no
consultation or new composition was necessary. A large Paintings as rten
number of the compositions were fixed by Buddhist
iconography and artistic tradition, and these the painter Paintings that depicted the bodily forms of enlightened
could simply draw from memory or according to beings were considered to be sku rten ("body
standard examples. supports"). Such paintings made up the vast majority
In the following pages we will describe in more of thangkas. We may also mention in passing a slightly.
detail some of the ways in which the painter established different kind of rten painting in which inanimate
his sketch, including the techniques and principles which sacred objects were depicted. When examining a large
he followed for new compositions. But it will be best to group of thangkas one occasionally comes across paint-
introduce these methods and principles indirectly, by ings of stupas, as well as of important temples and
first describing and classifying the main types of compo- monasteries. These too are rten paintings, because
sitions, especially those with established forms and temples were thought of as varieties of "body
contents. This is the best approach since the basic support", l and stupas were "supports" of enlightened
principles can be seen most clearly in the established mind.
compositions.
The Presence or Absence of a Temporal Framework

Oassification of Religious Paintings Paintings of animate sku-rten figures can to some extent
be further classified according to whether they do or do
According to Tibetan Buddhist thinking, most Buddhist not express a definite temporal framework. Most
art functioned as rten (literally "supports"), that is, as thangkas placed· their subjects in a realm beyond
physical representations and embodiments of en- ordinary space and time, Le. in a pure realm (dag pa'i
lightened body, speech or mind. The majority of zhing khams) or Buddha field. They depicted no par-
thangkas were rten, as were sacred statues, stupas and ticular moment or event although as rten they embodied
scriptures. For a sacred object fully to function as a rten, a living and immediate presence. By contrast, some
it had to be ceremonially imbued with the spirit of compositions clearly attempted to portray one or more

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