Avalokiteshvara, according to the practice tradition of Emperor Songtsen Gampo (617-650)

Artwork Details

Title: Avalokiteshvara, according to the practice tradition of Emperor Songtsen Gampo (617-650)

Dimensions: 22 × 19 3/8 in. (estimated)

Medium: Pigments on cloth

Origin: Central Tibet

Classification(s): paintings

Date: 13th century

Credit Line: Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin

Object number: C2003.50.5

Bibliography: Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism

HAR Number: 271

Published references: * Rhie, Marylin M., and Robert A.F. Thurman. Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art and Wisdom of Compassion. New York: Tibet House, 1999. Cat. 154; Pp. 404-405.* Google Art Project: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bodhisattva_Avalokiteshvara_in_the_Tradition_of_King_Srongtsen_Gampo_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg* Per K. Sørensen, “In his Name: The Fake Royal Biography—Fabricated Prophecy and Literary Imposture”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 52, Octobre 2019, pp. 284-335* Debreczeny, Karl. The Black Hat Eccentric: Artistic Visions of the Tenth Karmapa. New York: The Rubin Museum of Art, 2012, p. 303, fn. 605* Debreczeny, Karl. Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism. New York: Rubin Museum of Art, 2019. Fig. 3.1, pp. 20, 65, 68-70, 151

Compassion

Concepts

The cultivation of a strong aspiration to help sentient beings overcome suffering. In Buddhist Mahayana teaching, compassion is the seed for attaining full enlightenment.

Bodhisattvas

Figure Type

Beings who aspire to become fully awakened like the Buddha and are dedicated to helping others on the path to enlightenment.

Today, Tibetans primarily inhabit the Tibetan Plateau, situated between the Himalayan mountain range and the Indian subcontinent to the west, Chinese cultural regions to the east, and Mongolian cultural regions to the northeast. During the 7th to 9th century, Tibetan rulers expanded their empire across Central Asia, and established Buddhism as the state religion.