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Portrait of the Indian Monk Shakyaprabha (8th century)
19th century
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor on cotton
- Classification
- Religious/Ritual Object
- Dimensions
- 65 × 50 cm (25 5/8 × 19 5/8 in.)
- Culture
- Tibet
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Louise Lutz Endowment
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This thangka depicts Shakyaprabha (Tibetan: Shakya-Ö), an 8th century Indian Buddhist teacher, identified by a Tibetan inscription (shakya 'od) below the main figure. The smaller figures on the lower left and right also bear inscriptions identifying them as two of his students, Sakyamitra (shakya bshes gnyen) and Simhamukha (sing gdong can), respectively. In Tibet, Shakyaprabha is venerated as one of the Indian Buddhist teachers who was influential in the formation of Tibetan Buddhism.
This thangka is unusual in that it places Shakyaprabha in an interior setting, depicted with strongly linear perspective and showing architectural and interior design elements that are Chinese in style. At the same time, it is a hybrid; Shakyaprabha is depicted much larger than the other figures, following the traditional hierarchy of portraying importance through the size of the figures. It is likely that this thangka once belonged to a set of portraits of early Indian Buddhist teachers, although no others are currently known.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
