id:			152332
accession number:	1985.191.b
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1985.191.b
updated:		2022-01-04 16:59:51.922000

Iconographic Drawings: Chakrashamvara with Vajravarahi, Hevajra with Nairatmya, and Yamantaka (verso), c. 1500. Tibet. Ink and watercolor on cotton; overall: 20.3 x 12.7 cm (8 x 5 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Delia E. Holden Fund 1985.191.b

title:				Iconographic Drawings: Chakrashamvara with Vajravarahi, Hevajra with Nairatmya, and Yamantaka (verso)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1500
creation date earliest:		1495
creation date latest:		1505
current location:		237 Himalayan
creditline:			Delia E. Holden Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Tibet
technique:	ink and watercolor on cotton
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Tibetan Art
type:		Drawing
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 20.3 x 12.7 cm (8 x 5 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Focus: Tantra in Buddhist Art
	opening date:   2013-05-05T00:00:00
	<i>Focus: Tantra in Buddhist Art</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 5-September 15, 2013).

	title:		Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation: August 2020-March 2021
	opening date:   2020-08-14T04:00:00
	<i>Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation: August 2020-March 2021</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 14, 2020-March 7, 2021).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(Spink & Son, Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?-1985
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1985-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
The script notations are in an Indic script, but the line drawings are Tibetan.

digital description: 


wall description: 
These rare surviving pages of a practice book have drawings of prominent tantric figures. The line drawing is confident and masterful, with each iconographic element rendered with clarity and precision. The svelte proportions of the figures follow the style of the Khyenri school initiated in the second half of the 15th century by the artist Khyentse Wangchuk (about 1420-1500), known for his elegant and energetic depictions of the fierce manifestations of the enlightened beings. The best preserved example on this segment is the blue Hevajra in sexual union with Nairatmya, shown in a deeper shade of blue. Chakrashamvara, another powerful emanation of a Buddha, is at the left with his consort Vajravarahi, holding a variety of weapons, tantric implements, and an elephant skin representing the defeat of uncontrolled passions in his twelve hands. The buffalo-headed figure at the right is Yamantaka, a powerful form of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. Tantric practitioners invoke this deity to aid in conquering fear of death, one of the most powerful hindrances to enlightenment.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1985.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, vol. 73, no. 2, 1986, pp. 26–71.
	page number: 	Mentioned: no. 204, p. 71
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25159930

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1985.191.b/1985.191.b_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1985.191.b/1985.191.b_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1985.191.b/1985.191.b_full.tif