Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Nepal

Panel from a Buddhist Ritual Crown Depicting Vairocana
Tibet, late 13th–early 14th century
Distemper on wood
H. 11 3/4 in (29.8 cm); W. 5 1/8 in (13 cm)

Purchase, The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 1997
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997.152

This panel survives from one of the finest ritual crowns of the high period of Tibetan painting. Guarding the base of Vairocana's crown are lions which also serve as his vehicle. Vairocana, who presides over the five Transcendent Buddhas, makes the esoteric bodhyagri gesture while holding a thunderbolt (vajra) scepter in his right hand. He wears a multi-tiered crown that resembles those displayed in the center of this gallery, with which this painted crown panel is broadly contemporary.

Exhibition History
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Sacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet," October 6, 1998–January 17, 1999.

Zurich. Museum Rietberg. "Sacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet," February 14, 1999–May 16, 1999.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cosmic Buddhas in the Himalayas," June 24, 2017–December 10, 2017.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Nepal," December 16, 2017–December 16, 2018.