AN ILLUSTRATED FRONTISPIECE FROM A SUTRA
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
Opaque watercolor, gold and gesso on layered paper; together with silk veil.
5 1/4 x 19 1/4 in. (13.4 x 49 cm)
Footnotes
西藏 十九世紀 彩繪寫經卷首圖
Depicting malachite dragons flying through multicolored clouds, two vertical dividers separate the illustrated Buddhist host featured in this decorative frontispiece for a sutra. The central text panel reads 'In the Indian Language', which is a common epigraph in Tibetan Buddhist sutras, here written in gold against a rich lapiz ground. Above and below, the Sixteen Arhats are gathered. On either side are Amitayus and Shakyamuni Buddha, joined by the Guardians of the Four Directions. See a similar example of a manuscript page in the Tibet House Museum, New Delhi (HAR 71704).
