Sixth Panchen Lama
Color on cloth
Sixth Panchen Lama
CHINA; Qing dynasty
The Sixth Panchen Lama, Lobsang Palden Yeshe, passed away in 1780 when he was in Beijing to celebrate the 70th birthday of Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1736–1795) of the Qing dynasty. According to inscriptions written in Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan on a strip of white silk sewn onto the back of this picture, the Emperor ordered a court artist to paint it as a commemoration of the Lama.
Wearing a pointed hat and an orange monastic robe, the Panchen Lama sits in lotus position on a carved wooden throne. His right hand forms the vitarka (teaching) mudra and his left hand holds a sutra. Flowers and fruit are placed on an altar below the throne. Three Dharma protectors riding on white horses are painted at the bottom of the picture. Amitayus Buddha sits in the center at the top of the painting, flanked by Yamataka on the left and a Gelug school lama on the right.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting P-Z, page 859.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Wilson, Graham and Manho and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting P-Z},
pages = 859,
title = {{Sixth Panchen Lama}},
volume = 16,
year = {2016}}