A distemper and gold on cloth painting titled "Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha," Tibet, early to mid-12th century, one of the earliest surviving Tibetan portrayals of the Bengali scholar who traveled to Tibet in 1042 and whose teaching shaped the second diffusion of Buddhism there. Held today by the Metropolitan Museum of Art under accession 1993.479, Asian Art department, Gift of Steven Kossak, The Kronos Collections, 1993.
Facts
Subject Matter
Devotional FunctionPortraits of Atisha within the Kadam tradition he founded served lineage veneration, honoring him as the source of a teaching transmission his followers continued, the same devotional function later served by portraits of other lineage founders across Tibetan Buddhist schools. 1 Physical Form
MediumDistemper and gold on cloth, Tibet, early to mid-12th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art 1993.479 1 Medium (class) Connections
Associated With
This source names Bengali directly: "surviving Tibetan portrayals of the Bengali scholar who traveled to Tibet in 1042 and whose teaching shaped the second diffusion of Buddhism there."
Source Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha, accession 1993.479 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Belongs to Tradition
Source Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha, accession 1993.479 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Depicts
The Met's own title for this painting names the subject outright, "Atisha," a direct identification rather than a bare thematic tag.
Source Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha, accession 1993.479 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Originated In
Tibet, Regions Source Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha, accession 1993.479 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Sources
1. Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha, accession 1993.479 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Metropolitan Museum of Art- accession 1993.479
catalogue record, medium/object-type description
A distemper and gold on cloth painting titled "Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha," Tibet, early to mid-12th century, one of the earliest surviving Tibetan portrayals of the Bengali scholar who traveled to Tibet in 1042 and whose teaching shaped the second diffusion of Buddhism there.
Originated In: Tibet, Collection record: culture, country and region fields
Tibet
View the Source The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha (Metropolitan Museum of Art open access record)
The Metropolitan Museum of ArtIn Group: Tibetan Thangka Painting, Open access record: objectNameQuote, In Group: Tibetan Thangka Painting, Open access record: objectName
"objectName": "Thangka"
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