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Tara Displaying the Gesture of the Three Jewels

Tibetan
late 16th century or early 17th century
Object Place: Tibet

Medium/Technique Distemper on cotton
Dimensions Image: 66.3 × 44.9 cm (26 1/8 × 17 11/16 in.)
Framed: 80.6 × 58.7 cm (31 3/4 × 23 1/8 in.)
Credit Line Denman Waldo Ross Collection
Accession Number06.323
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsPaintings

DescriptionPainting with decorative borders, mounted on support panel. Would have originally been in thangka format. Painting depicts Tara Displaying the Gesture of the Three Jewels: number 9 from the set of Twenty-one Taras according to the system of Dipamkara Atisha. Tara sits on a lotus that emerges from an azure lake, surrounded by a verdant landscape.

One of three with 06.322 and 06.347.
InscriptionsThe inscription on the painting reads: "I put my faith in the Reverend Tara, the leader of the three Treasures"

Alternative translation:

'Homage to Holy Tara Displaying the Gesture of the Three Jewels!'
Provenance1904, sold by Florine Langweil (b. 1861 – d. 1958), Paris, to Denman Waldo Ross (b. 1853 - d. 1935), Cambridge, MA; 1906, gift of Ross to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 8, 1906)