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Requires Photography
Dalai Lama
Tibetan
19th century?
Object Place: Tibet
Medium/Technique
Distemper and gold on cotton
Dimensions
67 x 49 cm (26 3/8 x 19 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number21.738
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsPaintings
DescriptionPainting with no borders, with remnants of stitched borders, would have originally been in thangka format.
A Dalai Lama in a yellow pandit's hat sits on a lotus holding lotuses with his hands in dharmachakra mudra. On the lotuses are the sword and sutra of Manjushri (Dalai Lama is an incarnation of Manjushri). Flanking the central figure are smaller figures of Gelugpa Lamas, perhaps Panchen Lamas. Above, in the clouds, reading from left to right, are Green Tara, Buddha Shakyamuni, and White Tara. Below, engulfed in flames, from left to right, are Lhamo, Yama, and Damchan (the second of the five protector kings).
A Dalai Lama in a yellow pandit's hat sits on a lotus holding lotuses with his hands in dharmachakra mudra. On the lotuses are the sword and sutra of Manjushri (Dalai Lama is an incarnation of Manjushri). Flanking the central figure are smaller figures of Gelugpa Lamas, perhaps Panchen Lamas. Above, in the clouds, reading from left to right, are Green Tara, Buddha Shakyamuni, and White Tara. Below, engulfed in flames, from left to right, are Lhamo, Yama, and Damchan (the second of the five protector kings).
InscriptionsOn the reverse, in red ink, in Tibetan script, mantras behind each deity and a longer inscription (to be read). Transcription available in object file.
Provenance1921, William Sturgis Bigelow, Boston, MA; 1921, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 7, 1921)