Page 20 - Bonhams, Images of Devotion, April 21 2021

The stories illustrated within the painting may be based on the One Hundred
Thousand Songs of Milarepa, or the Life Story of Milarepa, or a mixture of both
books. Some of them are identified by gold Tibetan inscriptions, while some are
recognizable by the antics. At the bottom left corner, for example, the episode of
Goddess Tseringma’s attack is represented by depicting Milarepa surrounded by
flames and besieged by demons of the mind. Slightly above, the peaceful scene
of Milarepa speaking to a bowing man, Rechungpa, is identified by inscription as
the Story of the Yak Horn. At the top of the composition, the passing of Milarepa
is easily recognizable from the cremation scene on the left and the golden stupa
and casket in the center.

Milarepa’s central portrait betrays the hand of a master painter. The sagging skin of
his wizened face is effortlessly achieved with a few fluid lines and light shading. His
white brows, beard, and hair (partly frizzy, partly straight), are treated with precision.
Despite of his old age, Milarepa’s body remains firm, with a defined musculature
befitting a master yogi. His white, loose-fitting garment is brilliantly rendered with
soft and thin outlines, reminding viewers of the ‘inner heat’ (tumo) he can generate
from his cultivated yogic practice. This level of precision extends to the remainder
of the painting, as seen in the vivid facial expressions and densely patterned
garments afforded to every diminutive figure.

Compare the quality and compositional clarity with another Milarepa thangka,
possibly from the same set, that portrays the sage at a younger age (formerly in the
Nalin collection: Kerin, Artful Beneficence New York, 2009, p.112, no.56; sold at
Christie’s, New York, 12 September 2018, lot 325).

Published
Pratapaditya Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, Chicago, 2003, p.248,
pl.164.

Exhibited
Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, The Art Institute of Chicago. 5 April–17 August
2003; and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 18
October 2003–11 January 2004.

Provenance
The Nyingjei Lam Collection 菩薩道收藏, acquired in the 1990s
On loan to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1996–2005
On loan to the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2005–2018 (L2013.2.9)

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