QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

In style, composition, and quality, the present painting is undoubtedly the product of the Imperial Buddhist workshops of the Qianlong period. Note the lavish use of gold in the robes and nimbus of Buddha, as well as in the roofs of the palace behind, which reference the architecture of the Forbidden City. The lively color palette, with bright pinks, greens and yellows next to deep, iridescent blues, is also a notable feature of Qianlong-era Buddhist paintings. Finally, the elegant silk brocade, subtly woven with the Eight Buddhist Emblemns, indicates an Imperial commission. During Qianlong period, the composition of Buddhist paintings, known as thangka, were prescribed according to iconographic manuals composed by the preeminent Buddhist gurus of the court, such as Changkya Rolpe Dorje (1717-1786). Many such works, still with brilliant pigments remaining, can be found in the collection of The Palace Museum in Beijing; compare, for example, with a painting of Shakyamuni, illustrated in Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Beijing, 1992, p. 36, fig. 14.1.