Live Auction 2578Indian & Southeast Asian Art
A thangka of Virudhaka
Lot 565PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK

A thangka of Virudhaka

TIBET, 19TH CENTURY

Closed12 September 2012

Price Realised

USD 8,750

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A thangka of Virudhaka
Tibet, 19th century
The guardian king of the Southern direction holding a wishing jewel in his raised left hand and a sword in his right, clad in multicolored armor and adorned with flowing sashes, the face with stern expression surmounted by a tiara and backed by a flaming aureole, flanked by demon attendants wearing colorful robes and holding various implements, amidst a landscape strewn with jewels and obscured by clouds
33 7/8 x 23½ in. (86 x 59.6 cm.)

Private collection, New York, before 1972

Specialist note

Virudhaka is the guardian king of the Southern direction. Like Vaishravana (see lot 555), Virudhaka lives on the slopes of Mount Sumeru, having sworn an oath of protection in front of the buddha Shakyamuni. Paintings of Virudhaka by themselves are rare; likely, this would have been part of a set that included Shakyamuni along with the Sixteen Great Arhats.