TIBETO-CHINESE, 18TH CENTURY

This visually rich painting depicts three of the Sixteen Great Arhats. Angaja, who is seated on the throne at top, holds a incense bowl and flywhisk, and is flanked by two attendants. Ajita, seated on the lower right with his hands in the mudra of meditation and his head covered in an intricate robe, is also flanked by two attendants. Vanavasin, seated at lower left, holds a fly whisk in his proper left hand and points with his right, while offering a blessing to a kneeling devotee. The composition is beautifully balanced by additional figures surrounded by richly rendered landscape elements, resulting in a sumptuous and peaceful painting.

The Sixteen Great Arhats are generally painted as a part of a set that would include the Buddha Shakyamuni, the Sixteen Great Arhats, the attendant Dharmatala, the patron Hvashang and the Four Guardians of the Directions: Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Dritarashtra and Virudhaka. An inscription on the verso indicates this painting would have been hung on the “first right” of the larger set.