Page 72 - CHRISTIE'S Himalayan and SOutheast Asian Works of Art 09/13/17

643
A GROUP OF TEN MEDICAL PAINTINGS FROM
THE BLUE BERYL SERIES

TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
Opaque pigments on paper
Each approximately 28Ω x 23Ω in. (72.5 x 59.5 cm.)

$60,000-80,000

西藏 十九世紀 醫學廣論藥師佛意莊嚴四續光明藍琉璃畫一組十件

PUBLISHED

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 24343

Designed and commissioned by Desi Sanggye Gyatso (1653-1705) in the Desi Sanggye Gyatso became Regent of Tibet following the passing of the
late seventeenth century, the Blue Beryl paintings are a visual commentary Fifth Dalai Lama (see Illustration below). He was entrusted by His Holiness
on the Four Tantras (The Tantra of Secret Instructions on the Eight Branches, to collate the medical histories and traditions from the various schools of
the Essence of the Elixir of Immortality) medical text, the foundational Tibetan Buddhism into a centralized source. The frst set of medical paintings
medical treaties of Tibetan medicine dating back to the twelfth century appeared in 1688. The publication of the Blue Beryl resulted in Desi Sanggye
and still used by modern medical practitioners. The name Blue Beryl refers Gyatso establishing the Chagpori College of medicine in 1696 on the Iron Hill
to Desi Sanggye Gyatso’s note that the luminosity of the translucent blue adjacent to the Potala Palace. In 1702-1703 he also authored a companion text
pigment is akin to the radiant blue light emitted by Bhaisajyaguru, the to the Blue Beryl called The Mirror of Beryl, A Well Explained History of the
Medicine Buddha or “King of Beryl Radiance” (T. Hofer, Bodies in Balance: Glorious Science of Medicine, A Feast to Delight the Rishis, a further discourse
The Art of Tibetan Medicine, New York, 2014, p.129). The core of the Four on traditional Tibetan Buddhist medicine.
Tantras text encompasses the teachings of Bhaisajyaguru and the origins of
diagnosis and treatment. The ground blue pigment, a type of aquamarine or
the deeper hued maxixe, not only gives the paintings a rich vibrant color, but
also symbolically infuses them with the essence of the medicine Buddha’s
healing energy.

opposite: ( I)

A Thangka of the Fifth Dalai Lama with Desi Sanggye Gyatso,
Tibet 18th century, Christie’s New York, 21 September 2007, lot 1878
The highlighted area shows Desi Sanggye Gyatso seated below his holiness,
the 5th Dalai Lama