Page 44 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

Principles of Composition in Individually Designed era (gsar ma pal tantric cycles, and Samantabhadra in
Thangkas the old (rnying rna pal. Similarly, the lord of the Tatha-
gata family (rigs bdag) of the main figure occupied this
In some of the established groupings that consisted of a position in some compositions, as when Amitabha was
main figure with a retinue, such as mal)9alas and assem- placed above the main figure of Avalokitesvara. When a
bly fields, not only were the identities of the figures painter depicted many gurus or all of the teachers in the
determined but their placement within the composition lineage, he would usually place these figures in a
also was rigidly controlled by textual prescription or descending chronological sequence. He would begin first.
traditional usage. In certain other fixed-grouping at the top center of the painting, arranging the figures in
paintings, however, the artist himself could determine two series sloping down and away from the top center
the placement of some of the figures, and to some and then down both sides of the painting. The temporal
extent he could add to or improvise with the layout. sequence of the figures at the top was center, its right,
Yet even where such compositional leeway existed, the its left, second right, second left, and so on. In an elab-
artist's sketch was still guided by certain general prin- orate composition with many figures of different classes,
ciples of composition. Such principles were almost the next stratum below the gurus could be occupied by
universal within Tibetan religious art, and they are the yi-dams and by Buddhas who were not conceived of as
very principles that we must spell out when describing gurus of that particular lineage. (As mentioned above, a
how a painter could sketch a grouping of deities that he Buddha. could also be depicted at the top as the
had never seen before. originator of the lineage). Finally, the major and minor
Many of the thangkas that we have seen painted protectors of the lineage were placed on the bottom
were begun merely on the basis of a list of the deities levels.
that the patron desired to be portrayed (such chosen The system of hierarchical stratification only
deities were called 'dod lha).5 The artist's first task was operated in a relative way, that is, only among the
to arrange those figures on the painting surface. What figures actually present witp.in the composition, exclud-
principles guided his work at this time? ing the main figure. If no gurus were depicted, for
To begin with, most rten thangkas contained one instance, the next appropriate class could occupy the
main figure and a number of lesser ones. To indicate the highest stratum. If no class but protectors was depicted,
relationship between the figures the artist employed even they could be painted in the highest positions.
both size and placement. The most important figure Although a few established compositional types
was the largest and was painted in a central position, did not follow the above principle, such stratification
usually exactly upon the central vertical axis of the was typical of complex thangkas of "desired deities"
composition. ('dod lha) that the painter had to design for a patron.
The next prominent principle of layout had to do At the very least the painter almost invariably placed
with the lesser figures; they were usually placed in gurus above, and protectors below, other types of
symmetrical balance around the main figure, commonly figures.
above, below and on both sides of it, depending on the This sort of hierarchical stratification was
number of figures involved. Certain compositions reflected in the composition of the "assembly fields"
called for asymmetrical balance, with the main figure described above. It also appeared in certain visuali-
drawn in a superior size .but positioned to the right or zations codified by ritual texts, and it was followed in
left of the central axis, with the face in partial profile. other spheres of Tibetan Buddhist religious activity as
However, most Central Tibetan painters used this sort well. The Venerable Dezhung Rinpoche pointed out to
of composition only when executing those for which us that the ordering of the lesser figures in the
established models such as famous block-prints existed. background of a thangka (Le. the figures apart from the
Another important principle of composition in main, central figure) corresponded to the order in which
Tibetan painting was that of hierarchical arrangement. the same classes of deities were addressed with benedic-
This principle was not evident in every rten thangka, tions (bkra shis) in the chanting of religious assemblies.
but it was very important for the painter when he The traditional sequence was as follows:
designed a new composition. In a painting that depicted
1) Gurus
a number of smaller figures in the background, such as
2) Yi-dams
gurus, yi-dam deities, Buddhas and protectors, these -
3) Buddhas
figures were not only arranged in a symmetrical pattern
4) Bodhisattvas
around the central figure, but were generally grouped
5) pa~a and pakil);
according to class - each class occupying a relatively
6) Dharmapala
higher or lower position within the composition.
7) Yak~a (gnodsbyinJ
In a multiple-figure composition whose "retinue"
8) Gods of wealth (nor lha)
included depictions of gurus from the transmission
9) Lesser deities (Mahanaga, gter-bdag, etc.)
lineage (brgyud pa'i bla mal, these figures traditionally
occupied the highest elevations in the painting. Often at A learned lama was quick to notice when the deities
the top center there was depicted the ultimate and were placed out of order, whether in the liturgy chanted
primordial teacher: Vajradhara in the new-translation- in the temples or in a thangka. We once heard a Sa-skya-
40 COMPOSITION