Art Institute of Chicago

Green Tara, Seated in Pose of Royal Ease (Lalitasana), with Lotus Stalks on Right Shoulder and Hands in Gestures of Reasoning (Vitarkamudra) and Gift Conferring (Varadamudra)

China

Date

Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Yongle reign mark and period (1403–24)

Medium

Gilt copper alloy with traces of pigment (lapis lazuli)

Culture

China

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

China's pantheon of Buddhist deities, with their accompanying rituals and artistic styles, burgeoned following its conquest by the Mongols and its absorption into the pan-Asian, multiethnic Yuan empire (1279 1368). From then on, many Chinese rulers and members of elite society, of both native and foreign heritage, became fervent devotees of Tibetan Buddhism. This faith is also known as Vajrayana (Diamond Path) Buddhism or, for its esoteric teachings derived largely from Hinduism, Tantric Buddhism. Buddhist images made in China but influenced by Tibetan (as well as Nepalese) iconography and style are termed Sino-Tibetan. This image depicts one of many emanations of the compassionate god Tara. An inscription on the top surface of its throne reads "Da Ming Yongle nian zhi" (Bestowed in the Yongle reign of the Great Ming). The Yongle emperor was the third ruler of the Ming dynasty and a great patron of Buddhist art.

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