NEPAL, CIRCA 1300

This fine paubha portrays a rare form of the six-armed Avalokiteshvara who sits majestically in lalitasana on a lotus base placed on an elaborate throne. He is sumptuously decorated with jewellery contrasting well against his red body colour. The iconographic particularities are discussed at length and explained by Gilles Béguin on pages 172 and 175 in his publication and therefore need not to be repeated. The god of compassion is surrounded by various emanations, the upper register includes the five transcendental Buddhas and the lower part shows the priestly consecration of the painting and its donors.
The unknown artist displays a confident, firm hand resulting in a well-balanced composition with delicate and fine executed lines. The subdued colours, with an emphasize on red and blue, makes this early painting an important testimony of early Newari religious art.