id: 150468
accession number: 1981.33
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1981.33
updated: 2023-01-11 05:15:19.409000
Tsong Khapa, Founder of the Geluk Order, c. 1440–1470. Central Tibet, mid 15th Century. Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton
; overall: 91.5 x 75 cm (36 x 29 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1981.33
title: Tsong Khapa, Founder of the Geluk Order
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1440–1470
creation date earliest: 1440
creation date latest: 1470
current location:
creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:
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culture: Central Tibet, mid 15th Century
technique: Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton
department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection: Tibetan Art
type: Painting
find spot:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 91.5 x 75 cm (36 x 29 1/2 in.)
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inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Year in Review for 1981
opening date: 1982-02-17T05:00:00
The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
title: The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art
opening date: 2003-10-05T00:00:00
The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (October 5, 2003-January 11, 2004); Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH (February 8-May 9, 2004).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Los Angeles County Museum of Art (10/5/2003 - 1/11/2004) and Columbus Museum of Art (2/8/2004 - 5/9/2004): "The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditaional Art," exh. cat no. 37, p. 164-165.
Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 239); July 1, 2014 - December 22, 2014.
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PROVENANCE
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
The Buddhist order to which the Dalai Lamas belong was founded by Tsong Khapa (1357-1419), whose image is seen here as the large central figure holding his hands in the teaching mudra. He wears the pointed golden hat that is the insignia for monks of the Geluk order. At the level of his ears are the sword and book, emblems of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. These emblems allude to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition that accorded Tsong Khapa the status of being an emanation of Manjushri.
This extraordinary, sumptuously rendered painting, made only decades after his death, retains elements of portraiture in the facial features that become formalized in later works, especially from the mid- 1600s onward, when the Geluk monks dominated the Tibetan theocracy. He is surrounded by lineage masters, many in lively gestures of debate, whose analyses of doctrines and practices led to Tsong Khapa's final formulation of the Lam Rim text on the stages of the path to enlightenment, which is foundational to the Geluk order.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Huntington, John C., Dina Bangdel, and Robert A. F. Thurman. The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art. Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2003.
page number: N8193.3.C35 H86 2003
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1981.33/1981.33_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1981.33/1981.33_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1981.33/1981.33_full.tif