Cleveland Museum of Art

Vajrapani and Garuda

Choying Dorje, the Tenth Black Hat Karmapa

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

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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