CHINA, PROBABLY CHENGDE, LATE 18TH CENTURY

The present painting, with its large central image of Buddha Shakyamuni and its verdant, Chinese-style landscape, can be associated with the imperial style of religious imagery propagated under the Qianlong Emperor in such Buddhist sites such as Chengde and Beijing at the end of the eighteenth century. The figure of Buddha is resplendently garbed with robes decorated with gilt foliate motifs, and is depicted with typical Qing iconometry, with a wide, almost triangular nose and spiky, blue curls of hair. The large size of the figure relative to the landscape evokes the massive gilt-wood figures of the Buddhas of the Three Ages in the Grand Hall of the Puning Temple at Chengde. At top center, a Gelugpa lama, possibly Changkya Rolpai Dorje, the iconometrist and personal guru of the Qianlong Emperor, is seated on a low cushion, flanked by Shadakshari Lokeshvara and Hayagriva, while Shadbhuja Mahakala and Yama Dharmaraja are shown at bottom left and right respectively. The vibrant colors and lavish use of gold are all characteristic of late eighteenth-century imperial Buddhist paintings, and distinguish this as fine example of the important style.