Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339) and Other Luminaries of the Rime "Non-Sectarian" Movement

Artwork Details

Title: Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339) and Other Luminaries of the Rime "Non-Sectarian" Movement

Dimensions: 38 3/8 × 22 × 1 in.

Medium: Mineral pigments on cloth

Origin: Kham Province, Eastern Tibet

Classification(s): scroll painting paintings

Date: 19th century

Credit Line: Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

Object number: C2005.34.1

Bibliography

HAR Number: 65562

Published references

David P. Jackson, Patron and Painter: Situ Panchen and the Revival of the Encampment Style (Rubin Museum of Art, 2009), 32, fig. 2.18a, 2.18b.
Christie’s, Sale 1552: "Indian and Southeast Asian Art," September 21, 2005, 276, Lot 134.
Karl Debreczeny, "Situ Panchen's Artistic Legacy in 'Jang,” Journal of the International Association of the Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013): 193-276, 245-246, fig. 40, http://www.thlib.org/collections/texts/jiats/#!jiats=/07/debreczeny/.
Karl Debreczeny, The Black Hat Eccentric: Artistic Visions of the Tenth Karmapa (The Rubin Museum of Art, 2012), 272, 274, fig. 9.18.

Transmission

Concepts

The passing down of authentic Buddhist teachings from a teacher to a disciple or student, often in the form of a text in a ritualistic context.

The transmission of teachings from one generation to the next, from teacher to student, traced all the way back to the Buddha without interruption. A complete lineage is essential in Tantric Buddhist practices as it makes the blessings of the teaching more powerful.

Legendary and Historical Humans

Figure Type

Himalayan art includes portraits of legendary and historical humans, including accomplished religious teachers (lamas), the Buddha’s original disciples (arhats), and spiritually accomplished tantric masters (mahasiddhas).

Tibetan Regions

Region

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.