A STUDY OF THE ICONOGRAPHY, STYLE, AND ORIGIN OF THREE TIBETANTHANGKA PAINTINGS A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Amy Miller Livingston, B.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2001 Master's Examination Committee: Approved by Dr. John C. Huntington, Adviser Dr. Susan L. Huntington Guest Committee Member: Dr. Dina Bangdel Adviser Department of History of Art Copyright by Amy Miller Livingston 2001 ABSTRACT This study examines the style and iconography of three brightly colored and carefully detailed paintings depicting three of the five Jina Buddhas, along with a host of other deities. As I will show, these paintings were originally produced as part of a set of five, although the whereabouts of the other two are not known. This partial set is one of the earliest known commissions to a Nepali artist from a Tibetan patron, and a wonderful document of the fine craftsmanship of the Nepali painter combined with the complex and symbolic iconography of Tibetan Tantric art. Although these three paintings have come to be publicly known only in the last forty years, they have since been published frequently in books on Tibetan or Nepali painting, especially museum collection or exhibition catalogues. However, much of the iconography has not been identified or discussed at any length. In particular, the small deities in the ii top and bottom horizontal registers of all three paintings have been illustrated exactly as described in the Buddhist texts, however their identities have, for the most part, gone undocumented. One task of this paper is to properly identify all of the deities in these three paintings, including the Jina Buddhas, the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, or Astamahābodhisattvas, and many other popular Buddhist deities, and discuss their iconography in the Tibetan context. I will also discuss the translation of the Tibetan inscription on the reverse of two of these paintings and the consecration ritual. Following this is an analysis of the stylistic characteristics of these paintings, which have been variously dated to the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. By comparing them with the mural paintings at the Shalu Monastery, I suggest that they most probably date from the early to mid-fourteenth century. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to Professors John C. Huntington and Susan L. Huntington. My adviser John Huntington was the first to introduce me to the beauty and mystery of Himalayan art and was kind enough to foster my interest and allow my access to his seemingly endless resources. Susan Huntington was the first to teach me how to look at art carefully and how to write about it effectively. She also deserves credit for diligently reading and editing this paper. For the three years I have spent at Ohio State University, I have been fortunate enough to know the Huntingtons as mentors, instructors, and friends. Many thanks to Prof. Dina Bangdel, who assisted me with her vast knowledge and interest of the subject of Nepali painting. I am very grateful, also, to Professor Marcella Sirhandi at Oklahoma State University, who originally introduced me to Buddhist art and believed in my ability to continue my studies. Her guidance and mentorship are beyond compare. iv Finally, thanks to my family, who encouraged me to continue in my studies, and to my husband, Trey, and daughter, Sierra Rose, whose love has driven me to reach my goals. Photographic Credits: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Plates 1, 4, 8. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Plate 2. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Plate 3. Plate 6 after S.L. Huntington and J.C. Huntington, Leaves From the Bodhi Tree (Dayton: Dayton Art Institute in Association with the University of Washington Press, Seattle and London), Cat no. 113. Plate 9 after Huntington and Huntington, Leaves From the Bodhi Tree, Cat. no. 57. Plate 10 after Huntington and Huntington, Leaves From the Bodhi Tree, Cat. no. 49. Plate 11 after Huntington and Huntington, Leaves From the Bodhi Tree, Cat. no. 60. Shelly and Donald Rubin, Plate 13. Plate 16 after J.C. Singer and P. Denwood, Tibetan Art: Toward a Definition of Style (London: Laurence King and Alan Marcuson in association with Weatherhill, 1997), Figure 207. v Plate 17 after J.C. Singer and S.M. Kossak, Sacred Visions (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999), Figure 20. Plate 19 after R. Vitali, Early Temples of Central Tibet (London: Serinda Publications, 1990, Plate 71. Plate 20 after Vitali, Early Temples, Plate 61. Plate 21 after Vitali, Early Temples, Plate 66. vi VITA July 21, 1976 .................................... Born, Enid, Oklahoma 1997-1998 ....................................... Assistant Curator, Visual Resources Library, Oklahoma State University 1998 ............................................... B.A., Art History, Oklahoma State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History of Art vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRA.CT ..........•.....•....•....•.•..••..•.•.•.............................................••.....••••..•. II ACKN'OWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................. IV 'VITA ............................................................................................................ VII LIST OF PI..A.TES ......................................................................................... X CHAPrER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 1 CHAPrER 2: ICONOGRAPHY ..................................................................... 8 JINAS .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Ratnasambhava .................................................................................................................... 15 Ami tabha ................................................................................................................................ 17 Amoghasiddhi ........................................................................................................................ 18 BODHISATTVAS ........................................................................................................................... 19 AUXILIARY DEITIES .................................................................................................................. 22 CHAPrER 3: INSCRIPrION ...................................................................... 40 CHAPrER 4: S~ISTIC .AN.ALYSIS ........................................................ 44 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .................................................................................................. 45 STYLISTIC COMPARISON ........................................................................................................ 49 Form ......................................................................................................................................... 49 Colors and Textures ............................................................................................................. 55 Composition ........................................................................................................................... 57 ANALYSIS AND DATING .......................................................................................................... 58 viii CHA.PrER 5: CONCLUSION ...................................................................... 64 NOTES ......................................................................................................... 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 72 APPENDIX.: PI..A.TES .................................................................................. 75 ix LIST OF PLATES Plate 1. Ratnasambhava. Attributed to a N ewar artist working in Central Tibet, early to mid-thirteenth century. Water-based pigments on cotton support. 41 x 32.9 cm (16 1/8 x 13 in.). Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Plate 2. Amitabha. Attributed to a N ewar artist working in Central Tibet, early to mid-thirteenth century. Water-based pigments on cotton support. 43 x 33 cm (16 1/4 x 13 in.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Plate 3. Amoghasiddhi. Attributed to a N ewar artist working in Central Tibet, early to mid-thirteenth century. Water-based pigments on cotton support. 39.5 x 31 cm (15 1/2 x 12 114 in.). Philadelphia Museum of Art. Plate 4. Inscription, reverse of Plate 1. Plate 5. Diagram of Plates 1, 2, and 3. Plate 6. Syama Tara. Attributed to a N ewar artist working in Central Tibet, late twelfth to early thirteenth century. Water-based pigments on cotton support. 20 1/2 x 17 1/4in. Cleveland Museum of Art. Plate 7. Page from Gm;u;lhavyiiha manuscript. Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, ca. eleventh century. H: 2 in. The Asia Society, New York. x Plate 8. Ratnasambhava. Tibet, ca. fourteenth century. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Plate 9. Page from A$tasiihasrikii Prajniipiiramitii Manuscript. India ca. 1105. H: 2 3/8 in. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Plate 10. Maitreya. India, ca. twelfth century. Copper alloy with silver and copper inlay. 7 1/4 x 5 5/8 x 3 1/4 in. Private Collection. Plate 11. Krodha deity. Eastern India or Bangladesh, ca. twelfth century. H: 2 1/2 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Plate 12. Mahakala, detail from Plate 3. Plate 13. Mahakala. Tibet, fifteenth century. 34 x 29 in. Shelley and Donald Rubin Collection.