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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2013
Buddhism, first officially adopted by Tibetan royalty in the seventh century, remained confined to court circles and was not widely accepted during the reign of the Tibetan kings between the seventh and ninth centuries. After a dark period of persecution during the late imperial period, the so-called “Second Diffusion” of Buddhism in Tibet began towards the end of the tenth century.
1 Mallmann, Marie-Thérèse de, Introduction à l'iconographie du tântrisme bouddhique (Paris, 1986), pp. 155–156 Google Scholar, 167–169.
2 Goepper, Roger, Alchi: Ladakh's hidden Buddhist sanctuary: the Sumtsek (London, 1996), pp. 179–207.Google Scholar
3 Neumann, Helmut F., “The Cave of the Offering Goddesses: Early painting in Western Tibet”, Oriental Art, vol. XLIV, no. 4, Winter 1998/9, pp. 52–60.Google Scholar
4 Béguin, Gilles, Art ésotérique de l'Himâlaya. La donation Lionel Fournier (Paris, 1990), no. 34, pp. 72–75.Google Scholar
5 Klimburg-Salter, Deborah E., Tabo: A lamp for the kingdom (Milan, 1997), Fig. 67, p. 100 and Fig. 96, p. 103.Google Scholar
6 See, for example, Béguin, Gilles, Les peintures du bouddhisme tibétain. Musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet (Paris, 1995) no. 126.Google Scholar
7 Ibid., no. 268.
8 Ibid., no. 45.
9 Ibid., no. 38.
10 Ibid., no. 197.
11 Ibid., no. 145.
12 Sorensen, Per K., “The sacred Junipers of Reting: The arboreal origins behind the Dalai Lama lineage”, Orientations, vol. 39, no. 6, September 2008, pp. 74–79.Google Scholar
13 For example, the very fine Sino-Tibetan example of the Cleveland Museum of Art, made of iron with gold and silver inlay, in: Watt, James C. Y. and Leidy, Denise Patry, Defining Yongle: Imperial art in early fifteenth-century China, (New York, 2005) plate 32.Google Scholar
14 A beautiful silver example of the eighteenth, nineteenth century, from the Potala of Lhasa, was presented at the exceptional exhibition of Tibetan art, in Essen: Tibet. Klöster öffnen ihre Schatzkammern, Essen, Villa Hügel, 2006, no. 107, pp. 495–497.
15 For example, Sotheby's, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, New York, 16 September 1999, no. 89; Erberto F. LoBue, Tesori del Tibet. Oggetti d'arte dai monasteri di Lhasa, Milano, Galleria Ottavo Piano, 1994, no. 44; Trésors du Tibet: Région autonome du Tibet, Chine, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris, 1987), no. 68.
16 Béguin, Gilles, “Activités du musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet. Népal-Tibet”, Arts Asiatiques, vol. XLVII, 1992, pp. 114–115.Google Scholar
17 See, for example, Kossak, Steven M., Singer, Jane Casey, Sacred Visions. Early paintings from Central Tibet, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999 Google Scholar, no. 23c, no. 29, no. 30.
18 Dongfang, Qi, Tang dai jin yin qi yan jiu (Research on Tang Gold and Silver) (Beijing, 1999), pp. 110–113 Google Scholar, and two Tang examples from Hejiacun and Shabocun: pl. 56, 57.
19 For example, see Steven M. Kossak, Jane Casey Singer, op.cit., no. 21.
20 Ibid., no. 24, a very fine Tibetan thang-ka of the 13th century: Maitreya, seated on a lotus, making with both hands the gesture of religious discourse (dharmacakra mudrā), holds the stems of two different flowers. A pale pink campaka flower appears near his left shoulder.
