Mogao Cave 17: Green Tara

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang

This painting is unique among the artworks discovered in Mogao Cave 17. It was created much later than the other paintings in the cave, suggesting that it was brought to Dunhuang from another location before Wang Yuanlu, the Daoist priest who discovered Cave 17, transferred this work to the explorer Aurel Stein. Tara, wearing a crown and ornaments, sits on a lotus throne, forming a mudra with each hand. A dark nimbus surrounds the head. The aureole is decorated with thick bands of color. Along the sides of the picture, eight Taras with red aureoles are shown rescuing small figures dressed in Tibetan clothing from the Rescuing People from the Eight Dangers. A Buddha and two lamas sit on clouds in the upper register.