TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY

The present painting depicts eight forms of the female bodhisattva Tara, each representing a salvation from one of the Eight Great Fears: water, lions, fire, snakes, elephants, thieves, false imprisonment and ghosts. In the basic sense, these fears directly correspond to some of the real-world dangers faced by those living in South Asia. However, each fear also holds multiple symbolic meanings related to philosophical or tantric beliefs. The present painting is a helpful didactic guide for illuminating the Eight Great Fears, with vignettes scattered throughout the horizontal-format painting illustrating the more real-world concerns. In the center of the painting, we see a group of people entangled by a serpent hanging from a tree, while at the lower right, a burning ship perhaps illustrates both the fear of water and of fire. At center right, the figure trapped in a burning house is depicted praying directly to the Tara seated above him, while in other cases, such as the boatmen on the burning ship or the person seemingly trapped in the courtyard of the house at far left, cloudy wisps are meant to convey the spoken mantras transmitted from the endangered practitioner directly to the image of Tara.