Cleveland Museum of Art

Vajrapani and Garuda

Choying Dorje, the Tenth Black Hat KarmapaLinkedCulture matchlcp-6ffad5880f55

Date: painting c. 1650; top and bottom borders c. 1350
Medium: Painting: gum tempera, gold, and silver on silk; lateral borders: silk damask with needleloop embroidery; top and bottom panels: embroidered silk, lead, and silver paper; curtain: silk tabby; dowels: wood, rawhide, and leather
Culture: China and Tibet, Embroidery: China, Yuan dynasty (1279–1368); painting: Tibet
Department: Textiles
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID: 154391

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

The painting depicts the Buddhist protector who holds ( pani ) the thunder bolt ( vajra ) in his right hand. He kneels in reverence and holds his left hand in a gesture of salute. This unusual image appears to have been the vision of a Tibetan monastic patriarch known for creating his own inventive paintings and sculptures. Sewn to the painting are Chinese damask borders and rare embroideries dating to the Chinese Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). They depict man-eagle figures known as Garuda, a form occasionally assumed by Vajrapani. Vajrapani sometimes takes the form of Garuda, enemy of snakes.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Provenance: ?–1989: (Sara Tremayne, Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 1989–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

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