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Portrait of a Lama
Tibetan
18th century
Object Place: Tibet
Medium/Technique
Distemper on cotton, mounted with silk brocades on panel
Dimensions
109.5 x 80.5 cm (43 1/8 x 31 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of John Goelet
Accession Number67.850
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsPaintings
DescriptionPainting in hanging scroll (thangka) format, but without original decorative borders
A balding, white-haired religious preceptor sits holding a lotus and making the varada mudra. He is surrounded by other monks, many of them wearing red hats. Above are wrathful deities and mahasiddhas. In the upper corners are lamas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. Below the central figure is an offering table, two lamas, Brahmanarupa, Mahakala holding the horizontal staff, Palden Lhamo, and Vaishrava.
The painting is not inscribed with information identifying the central figure.
A balding, white-haired religious preceptor sits holding a lotus and making the varada mudra. He is surrounded by other monks, many of them wearing red hats. Above are wrathful deities and mahasiddhas. In the upper corners are lamas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. Below the central figure is an offering table, two lamas, Brahmanarupa, Mahakala holding the horizontal staff, Palden Lhamo, and Vaishrava.
The painting is not inscribed with information identifying the central figure.
ProvenanceBy 1967, John Goelet, New York, NY; 1967, gift of Goelet to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 13, 1967)