VCM

Vajrabhairava
Vadzsrabhairava: 6307

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Why this is a
Masterpiece

Because of the moderate use of colours beside the richly applied gold paint to create enhanced contours, it is considered a special piece among black thangkas.

History of the Object: Vajrabhairava is one of the most popular forms of the protective deity Yamantaka, who is the fearful manifestation of the bodhisattva Manjushri. He is shown in stepping-out posture on a sun-lotus throne, while his body is embraced by his consort, Vajravetali. His nine heads, thirty-four arms, sixteen legs represent different Buddhist categories. In the upper part of the picture sits Tsongkhapa, founder of the Geluk order, who is respected as the incarnation of Manjushri. The picture belongs to the so-called black thangka tradition.

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Type: Painting
Materials: Painted linen, silk
Measurements: Width 48 cm Height 81 cm
Creator name: Unknown
Creator date: Unknown
Where it was made: China; Eastern Tibet, but could also have been painted elsewhere, like in Beijing
Geography: China; Tibet
Time period: AD 18th century ~ AD 18th century
Creation date: 18th Century
Function: In all likelihood it was used as the support of meditation connected with the deity.
Acquisition: This thangka originally belonged to the collection of Imre Schwaiger, a well-known Hungarian art dealer (1868–1940) who lived in Delhi and London and is regarded as the 'second founder' of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts. He gave it to Zoltán Felvinczi Takács, the first director of the museum in Delhi 1936, on the occasion of Felvinczi's study tour in India.
Copyright: No information, data or images may be published or reproduced without written permission of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Budapest.
Acknowledgements
Owner: Hungarian State; property management by the Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest; in the Collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Budapest.
Museum: Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts
Credit line: Description by Béla Kelényi, Tibetologist, Curator of the Tibetan and Nepalese Collections of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts