A THANGKA OF BEGTSE CHEN

QING, YONGHEGONG STYLE, 18TH/19TH CENTURY

Footnotes

清 雍和宮風格 十八/十九世紀 大紅司命主唐卡

Begtse Chen is one of the main protectors of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, popularized by its founder Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158). He was later incorporated into the Gelug school as a dharma protector, and associated with the Hayagriva cycle of tantric meditation practices. Wearing elaborate protective armor and thick boots, Begtse Chen brandishes a sword in his right hand while holding the heart of an enemy in his left. At the bottom-left of the composition, his son, the Lord of Life, holds a lasso and a spear atop a wolf. In the opposite corner, his red-faced and blue-bodied consort, the Goddess of Life, holds a sword in her right hand and a purbha in her left, while riding a bear with a miniature corpse clutched between its teeth.

The prominent scale of the central deity and close attention to detail are characteristics of paintings produced at Beijing's Yonghegong temple. See a closely related thangka of the same deity preserved at Yonghegong, published in Qi, Beautiful Thangka Paintings in Yonghegong, 2001, p.88. The treatment of Begtse Chen's beard, hair, and crown are very similar, as are the flat-bottomed clouds and gold-outlined flames.

Provenance:
Private Asian Collection