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The painting belongs to a famous series of portraits depicting the Ngor Monastery abbots and teachers of the Path with the Fruit (Lam ‘bras) lineage that was commissioned in the late sixteenth century, the last-known major set of its type in the Nepalese-inspired, or Beri, style. It prominently employs Nepalese decorative scrollwork and the late Beri palate, which features blues and greens. The elegant five-lobed arch around the main figure is supported by ornate pillars, a continuation of Tibet’s earlier Indian-modeled painting tradition.
The inscription on the back of this work in the shape of a stupa combines mantras and prayers taken from the Pratimoksha Sutra and is framed by the repeated use of the mantra requesting the essence of the deities to abide in the painting.
Sanggye Sengge (1504-1569)
OriginNgor Ewam Choden Monastery, Tsang Province, Central Tibet
Date1580s-1590s
Dimensions49 1/8 × 32 3/4 × 1 1/8 in.
MediumPigments on cloth
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art, Gift of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation
Object numberF1996.26.1
Himalayan Art Resources Number493
DescriptionThis painting depicts the eleventh abbot of Ngor Monastery, Sanggye Sengge (1504–1569), a great patron of the arts, holding a golden vase of longevity. Signs of venerable age, such as silver stubble of hair and a receding hairline, suggest this is a somewhat realistic painting of the master, in the last years of his life.The painting belongs to a famous series of portraits depicting the Ngor Monastery abbots and teachers of the Path with the Fruit (Lam ‘bras) lineage that was commissioned in the late sixteenth century, the last-known major set of its type in the Nepalese-inspired, or Beri, style. It prominently employs Nepalese decorative scrollwork and the late Beri palate, which features blues and greens. The elegant five-lobed arch around the main figure is supported by ornate pillars, a continuation of Tibet’s earlier Indian-modeled painting tradition.
The inscription on the back of this work in the shape of a stupa combines mantras and prayers taken from the Pratimoksha Sutra and is framed by the repeated use of the mantra requesting the essence of the deities to abide in the painting.
Not on view
ca. 16th century
1429-1456
15th century
17th - 18th century
17th century
16th century
16th century
18th - 19th century
19th century