A bronze portrait statue, inlaid with copper and silver and finished with gold plugs, Tibet, 17th century, of Marpa Chokyi Lodro, the eleventh-century translator honored here as "The Great Teacher," who studied under Naropa in India and brought the tantric teachings that founded the Kagyu lineage back to Tibet. Held today by the Metropolitan Museum of Art under accession 1995.176, Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1995.
Facts
Subject Matter
Devotional FunctionStatues of lineage founders such as this one are typically enshrined on a refuge or lineage altar and used as a support for guru-devotion practice within Kagyu monastic and lay life, honoring Marpa as the human link who carried the transmission from India into Tibet rather than depicting a deity. 1 Physical Form
MediumBronze inlaid with copper and silver, gold plugs, Tibet, 17th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art 1995.176 1 Medium (class) Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Derived: this work depicts a figure already recorded as belonging to this tradition; the work-to-tradition link is inferred from that live depicts edge and the figures own attested tradition affiliation, not independently sourced beyond it.
Source Portrait of The Great Teacher Marpa, accession 1995.176 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Depicts
Marpa, Figures The Met's own collection API title names Marpa directly by his standard honorific, "The Great Teacher," a 17th century Tibetan bronze consecration portrait cast with gold-plugged eyes.
Source Portrait of The Great Teacher Marpa, accession 1995.176 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Originated In
Tibet, Regions Source Portrait of The Great Teacher Marpa, accession 1995.176 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Sources
1. Portrait of The Great Teacher Marpa, accession 1995.176 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Metropolitan Museum of Artcatalogue record, medium/object-type description
A bronze portrait statue, inlaid with copper and silver and finished with gold plugs, Tibet, 17th century, of Marpa Chokyi Lodro, the eleventh-century translator honored here as "The Great Teacher," who studied under Naropa in India and brought the tantric teachings that founded the Kagyu lineage back to Tibet.
Originated In: Tibet, Collection record: culture, country and region fields
Tibet
View the Source Tibetan art (Wikipedia)
In Group: Tibetan Buddhist Metal Sculpture, own entity-description: "A bronze portrait statueView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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