Beginning in the fifteenth century, there was a gradual shift in Tibetan art from an Indic-centred aesthetic toward a more Chinese-centred one. Tibetan artists digested and internalized new artistic models from Eastern Central Asia and China that came in during the previous centuries, especially catalyzed on a large scale by patronage of the Mongol Empire (ca 1206-1368), which ruled all of these territories, and later the Chinese Ming court.
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 foreign traditions such as Eastern Indian, Kashmiri, or Nepalese. These new styles, including the Menri, Khyenri, and Gardri, became known for the integration of Chinese-inspired landscapes and corresponding shift to increasingly green and blue palettes of malachite and azurite, while maintaining Indic Iconographic and iconometric rules of the subjects they depicted.
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Tibet
15th century
The tantric magician Padmasambhava is considered one of the founders of Buddhism in Tibet, along with the monastic Shantarakshita (see adjacent painting) and emperor Tri Songdetsen. Padmasambhava tamed many indigenous gods hostile to the arrival of the foreign religion and converted them into Buddhist protectors. Each element of this marvelous silver sculpture has been finely and thoughtfully executed, from the wide flaring sleeves to the use of a warm gold paint for his skin. A light sway in the body and a sensitive portrayal of the face add a presence to the image.
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