Śikhin, one of the Buddhas of the past
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.In 1777, the Panchen Lama, high cleric of Tibet’s Tashilhunpo Monastery, sent a gift of seven paintings to the Qianlong emperor, each of which depicted one of the Buddhas of the past. As a sign of respect for this gift, Qianlong had them recreated in several forms: as polychrome paintings, as stone carvings, as rubbings of those stone carvings, and finally as paintings in gold on deep blue paper. This thangka, which depicts Śikhin, second of the seven Buddhas of the past, survives from a set of this final form, which transmutes the stark white on black visual idiom of the rubbing into a luxurious, shimmering gold on midnight blue. The painting is inscribed with a hymn in praise of Śikhin, which is rendered in the four official languages of the Qing court: Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan. The poem reads:
Hymn to Śikhin
That which arises from good factors is fundamentally illusory;
That which creates evil karma, too, is fundamentally illusory.
With a body [ephemeral] like accumulated foam and a heart [diffuse] like wind,
He casts out illusions, which are rootless and without reality.
Hymn to Śikhin
That which arises from good factors is fundamentally illusory;
That which creates evil karma, too, is fundamentally illusory.
With a body [ephemeral] like accumulated foam and a heart [diffuse] like wind,
He casts out illusions, which are rootless and without reality.
Artwork Details
- 清 佚名 尸棄佛圖
- Title: Śikhin, one of the Buddhas of the past
- Artist: Unidentified artists (late 18th century)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong period (1736–95)
- Date: dated 1777
- Culture: China
- Medium: Gold on indigo-dyed paper
- Dimensions: Approx. framed: 60 × 42 in. (152.4 × 106.7 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Promised Gift of Andrew Joseph, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary
- Object Number: SL.17.2019.3.1
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art