Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha

Portrait of the Indian Monk Atisha

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Atisha was the abbot of Vikramashila monastery in northern India, one of the mahaviharas (great monasteries) that granted the learned degree of pandita, here indicated by his yellow hat. In 1042, he traveled to Tibet at the invitation of the western Tibetan king Yeshe ‘Od to help purify Buddhist practices there. Atisha’s authority was rooted in his lineage, an unbroken chain of pupil-guru relationships going back to the Buddha himself. This portrait of Atisha, among the oldest preserved, shows him as an enlightened being with golden skin and a halo, seated on an elaborate jeweled throne. His right hand is held in the teaching gesture and he holds a bound palm-leaf manuscript in his left. The tangka can be dated from a contemporary inscription on the reverse naming known historical figures.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portrait of the Indian Monk AtishaPortrait of the Indian Monk AtishaPortrait of the Indian Monk AtishaPortrait of the Indian Monk AtishaPortrait of the Indian Monk Atisha

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.