Page 28 - Bonhams Himalayan, Indian Art march 2015

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A large thangka of Shakyamuni
West Tibet, 14th century
Distemper on cloth; the Buddha in the act of teaching flanked by his acolytes and surrounded
by registers of buddhas, siddhas and protector deities.
82 1/2 x 41 in. (209.5 x 104.1 cm)
$300,000 - 500,000

Extraordinary in its size and visual power, the painting presents the historical Buddha
Shakyamuni flanked by his two closest disciples, Shariputra and Maudgalyayana.1 These two
friends converted to Buddhism after meeting Assaji, one of the Buddha’s first five disciples.
Leaving behind their lives as wandering ascetics, Shariputra and Maudgalyayana embraced the
Buddha’s teachings and became pivotal members of the early Buddhist order. Their spiritual
stature was such that they were deemed arhats, “worthy ones” whose conduct and spiritual
achievement made them leading exemplars of early Buddhist doctrine. In this work, they turn
to the Buddha, offering their alms bowls.

Shakyamuni displays the gesture of teaching (dharmacakra pravartana mudra). His face
imparts the powerful inward focus of deep contemplation. Two deer flank the wheel of the
Buddhist law on the lower throne beneath his seat, recalling the Buddha’s first sermon at
the Deer Park in Sarnath. He wears the deep red saffron outer robe (samghati) of a Buddhist
monk, a rectangular patchwork cloth that is hemmed with a border of floral scrolls. Florets
in raised gold further enhance the beauty of the garment. The Buddha’s patchwork robe is
traditionally thought to have been fashioned from small pieces of fabric gathered from cast-
off rags, a fitting garment for one who has renounced the world. A passage in the Vinaya
Mahavagga Khandaka describes the Buddha instructing his disciple Ananda to design robes
for his monks based on the squares, strips, borders and cross-lines of the rice fields in the
Magadha countryside of northern India.2 The robe is draped around the torso and covers both
shoulders, its red hue further enhanced by a rich green fabric beneath, likely representing both
the traditional upper and lower robes (uttarasanga, covering the upper body, and antaravasa,
covering the lower body).

This painting is one of the largest surviving Tibetan paintings from any period. Comparable
works include a c. 12th-century Buddha painting (201.4 x 114 cm.) in a private collection,
and a c. 12th-century painting of Amitayus and Acolytes (259.1 x 175.3 cm.) in the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art.3 A c. 15th-century painting of Bhaisajyaguru (180 x 141 cm.)
is noteworthy for its comparable size as well as its stylistic similarities to the present example,
discussed below.4 Also noteworthy is the c. late 14th-century painting of Vaishravana (160 x 99
cm.) in the Musee Guimet, Paris.5. Indeed, the style and composition of the painting indicate a
c. 14th-15th-century date.

Registers of figures, including Buddhas, bodhisattvas and other deities, are arranged in
borders around the central enthroned Buddha. This compositional device was particularly
common in Tibetan paintings before the 15th century, seen for example in a c. 13th-century
painting of Maitreya Buddha in a private collection.6 The throne structure too has roots in early
Tibetan painting, although here the crocodilian creatures (makara) on the throne bar face in
towards the central figure rather than facing away, as is the norm.7 The pattern of scroll above
them finds parallels in a c. 14th-century painting.8 Similarities can be found in the treatment of
lotus petals in a Nepalese painting dated c. 1450-74, Portrait of Gaganshim Bharo and Wives.9

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