A THANGKA DEPICTING BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI WITH ARHATS TIBET, 16TH CENTURY |

in four rectangular sections with a golden Buddha in the upper left panel, his hands in dharmachakra mudra, and wearing a floral patterned red patchwork robe, seated in vajraparyankasana on a lotus flower emerging from the churning ocean filled with naga, makara and mythological sea creatures, with adepts, deities and auspicious emblems surrounding the ocean, monks in the clouds to the left and the Tushita heaven in clouds to the right, chatra above flanked by apsaras and adorants; an adjacent panel to the right with an arhat, possibly Ajita with head covered with cloth from his voluminous patchwork robe, seated in meditation on a throne set in mountainous landscape and flanked by attendant monks, another arhat below, possibly Kalika seated on cushions with a red and blue pitaka basket to his left and surrounded by a Lokapala, attendants and mythical animals; a further panel below right with an Arhat, possibly Cudapapanthaka, offering a cloth to the Buddha seated on a peacock feather cushion, his sandals on a rocky outcrop before him, with an arhat seated on a throne below, possibly Nagasena holding a jewelled staff; and a further panel to the left with an arhat seated on a throne, possibly Rahula holding a scarf and with a crown supported by an attendant to his side, another arhat seated below, possibly Pindola Bharadvaja being offered a patra by an attendant and surrounded by white elephants Himalayan Art Resources item no. 19841.

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

Pratapaditya Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, Chicago, 2003, cat. no. 169

Water damage to upper right and running through into lower right panels with resulting paint loss and staining. Rubbed overall. No apparent creasing. No restoration. Accretion throughout.
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The painting’s format of four equal rectangular panels separated by thin red borders is unusual. It may be assumed that the thangka is one of a series depicting the remaining ten arhats together with the attendant Dharmatala and the patron Hvashang, and the Four Guardians of the Directions, Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Dhritarashtra and Virudhaka. A different manifestation of the Buddha may also have been included in the composition of each. This painting seems to be the only one of the series to come to light thus far, and indeed one of the only Tibetan thangka in this four panel format. However three from a series of arhat paintings in the Rubin Museum of Art consist of two vertically arranged panels within thin red borders that feature a single arhat in each; see Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1999, pp. 167-8, pls 17-8, p. 229, pl. 50; see also a thangka in the Newark Museum divided equally into two segments, each depicting one arhat with attendants, in Pratapaditya Pal, Tibet: Tradition and Change, Albuquerque, 1997, p. 12, pl. 6.