著录:出版 Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24892. 拍品描述:This rare and unusual painting depicts what is likely one of the Dalai or Panchen Lamas at center, surrounded by a group of more than twenty mahasiddha figures. The painting is likely part of a set of possibly three paintings, which as a group would have depicted all of the canonical eighty-four mahasiddhas. A three painting set in the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art (acc. nos. P2000.14.1, P2000.14.2, P2000.14.3), illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, item nos. 972, 973, and 974, depict Vajradhara, Atisha, and Nagarjuna Buddha respectively at the center of each composition, surrounded by mahasiddhas; while the exact iconography, and indeed subject of the other two paintings, is yet to be determined, it is possible the current painting follows some of the same ideas as the Rubin group. Another composition for comparison is that of the Seventh Dalai Lama, Kalzang Gyatso, surrounded by siddhas (an example of which can be found on Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 46911), although this is part of a group of seven paintings with standardized format and iconography that do not match to the present work. Although the iconography is somewhat enigmatic, the style follows closely that of the imperially-sponsored Tibetan Buddhism practiced in the Chinese capital of Beijing. The depiction of the central figure’s face closely mirrors late eighteenth-century imperial depictions of important Buddhist personages in the capital, with the mixture of individual and idealized features. The verdant green landscape with flowing water running throughout and the swirling, ruyi-form clouds in a palette of pinks and greens all follow eighteenth-century Qing Buddhist painting styles. The present painting is distinguished, however, by the detailed manner in which the idiosyncratic mahasiddhas have been depicted: all of the figures have varying skin tones, facial characteristics, and iconographic identifiers, each providing a clue to the identify of the figures. Compare the present painting to a similar work depicting the Changkya Hutuku Rolpai Dorje (1717-1786), likely from the same atelier, sold at Christie’s London, 7 November 2014, lot 485.