King Songten Gampo as the incarnate Avalokiteshvara

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Although this painting is dominated by images of an eleven-headed bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and a pair of golden footprints, the subject is that of the unassuming lama seated at the lower center, likely the seventh-century Tibetan king Songten Gampo. He appears as an incarnation of his spiritual mentor, Avalokiteshvara, who presides above him in radiant form. He is flanked by portraits of his two queens, their hands raised reverently. One of the earliest surviving Tibetan paintings on silk, it reflects an awareness of Central Asian Buddhist art traditions and is a rare reminder that the early kingdoms of Tibet were as much engaged with Central Asia and the frontiers of China as they were with the Indian subcontinent to their south.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art