Beginning in the fifteenth century there was a gradual shift in Tibetan art from an Indic-centered aesthetic toward a more Chinese-centered one. This shift reflects the disappearance of Buddhism in India and Tibet’s increasingly close cultural, economic, and political ties to its northeastern Mongolian and Chinese neighbors.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, newly emerging Tibetan painting styles in Central Tibet were named after famous indigenous masters and artistic centers rather than adopted traditions such as Eastern Indian, Kashmiri, or Nepalese. These new styles, including the Menri, Khyenri, and Gardri, were known for their integration of Chinese-inspired landscapes and corresponding shift to increasingly green and blue palettes of malachite and azurite.
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Tibet
17th century
The female tantric deity Nairatmya, or Goddess without Self, is considered the embodiment of the profound understanding of the nature of reality, which posits that the self, or ego, is empty of inherent existence. She sits on a corpse, symbolizing the empty nature of attachment to ego. The casting practices used to create this sculpture bear similarities to seventeenth-century Newar works. The main figure, corpse, and parts of the skull garland were cast separately, while the lotus base was hammered out of thin metal sheets.
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