Footnotes

This beautiful thangka depicts the great historian, Taranatha (1575-1634), the foremost sage of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism, one of the key Tibetan leaders of the turbulent 17th century, and pivotal to any discussion of Mongolian Buddhism.

Gold is lavished upon the painted surface, heightening textiles, architecture, and the verdant paradise with blue craggy rocks that nod to the great tradition of landscape painting in China. The thangka's high quality resounds within its smallest details, such as the flawless draftsmanship of Taranatha's elegant hands, the idiosyncratic vigor of each mythical beast within his elaborate mandorla, and the effortless division of space through the employ of subtle brown and green washes within the landscape.

Tarantha is one of the most frequently referenced Tibetan historians by modern writers on the history of Buddhism. He was a polymath who penned a vast bibliography, including numerous treatises on Buddhist philosophy, art, and, "the most important history of Indian Buddhism to be written in any language," as Martin sees it (Tibetan Histories. A Bibliography of Tibetan Language Historical Works, London, 1997). Taranatha was an avid patron of the arts and one of the principal agents behind the 'Pala Revival' style in Tibet, commissioning the restoration of Pala-style murals at his order's primary enclave, the Jonang Puntsog Ling.

Escaping increasing pressure from Gelug domination and its policies of 'unification' within the 17th century, Taranatha spent his last years missionizing dwindling Sakya monasteries in Mongolia. Subsequently, Mongolia's great spiritual leader, Zanabazar (1635-1723), was identified as Taranatha's reincarnation, upholding the latter's reputation as "a man of deep learning who made his field of enquiry as wide as humanly possible", according to Templeman ("Taranatha the Historian", in The Tibet Journal, vol.6, no.2, 1981, pp.41-6). All eight of his Mongolian incarnations held Taranatha's posthumous epithet, Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu ('Venerable and Saint Master Incarnate'), until 1924.

Provenance
Private European Collection


多羅那他唐卡
西藏中部，十七世紀
布本設色；正面每人物附近有金色藏文題記指明其身份。
喜馬拉雅藝術資源網23550號
畫芯： 69 X 48 釐米（27 X 19英吋）;
裝裱：120 X 70 釐米（27 X 27英吋）

400,000-600,000港元

此幅精美的唐卡描繪偉大的史學家多羅那他（1575 – 1634），多羅那他是藏傳佛教覺囊派聖賢，動盪的十七世紀中重要的西藏領袖，且在蒙古佛教發展中起到了舉足輕重的作用。

畫心中大量使用金色，用以點綴人物的服飾、建築、翠綠山水以及藍色崎岩。山石的處理融入了中國山水畫傳統。精湛的畫工在唐卡最細微之處反映出來，如多羅那他手型優雅的繪法，威風凜凜的憤怒尊以及其身後精緻的光輪，且採用微妙的棕色和綠色暈染而區分構圖上的不同空間。

在有關佛教史的著錄中，多羅那他是現代作家最常引用的西藏歷史學家之一。他博學多才，著述良多，著作中包括佛教哲學、藝術、以及Martin所提到的「最為重要的印度佛教史」 （參見Tibetan Histories. A Bibliography of Tibetan Language Historical Works，倫敦，1997年）。 多羅那他是一位藝術文化支持者，也在西藏「帕拉復興風格」的發展中起到了重要作用，主持修復了覺囊派達丹彭措林寺的帕拉風格壁畫。

十七世紀時格魯派勢力逐漸強大，多羅那他為逃避格魯"統一"政策移居他鄉，晚年在蒙古薩迦派寺廟中說法傳教。圓寂後，蒙古的精神領袖扎那巴扎爾（1635-1723）被認定為多羅那他的轉世，如Templeman所言，扎那巴扎爾延續了其前世之盛名，是"一位學識廣博深不可測的智者"（參見「Taranatha the Historian」，刊載於 The Tibet Journal， 卷6，2號，1981年,，頁41-6）。直到1924年，多羅那他轉世的八位蒙古活佛都享有他的諡號，哲布尊丹巴呼圖克圖（「尊勝化身」）。

來源
歐洲私人珍藏