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Featuring a sparing application of blue and green pigment with a dry brush, this work is painted in the light and airy style of the later Encampment (Gardri) School, established by the great religious leader, artist, and patron Situ Panchen at Palpung Monastery in southern Kham Province. These soft, cool colors found in the landscape contrast with the more thickly applied warm reds and oranges of the figures. A naturalistic attention to depicting animals, such as the goldenhaltered horses in the landscape at bottom center, is another hallmark of this painting tradition.
Mountain God Amnye Cha Kyung
OriginEastern Tibet
Date18th century
Dimensions13 1/4 × 8 1/4 in. (estimated)
MediumPigments on cloth
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin
Object numberC2006.66.8
Himalayan Art Resources Number141
DescriptionAs a local mountain deity in Rebkong, Amdo Province, in northeastern Tibet, Amnye Cha Kyung is an important figure in the region’s sacred geography. Mountain deities were indigenous gods subjugated by the great teacher Padmasambhava, who helped establish Buddhism in Tibet in the eighth century. These gods were then absorbed into the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon.Featuring a sparing application of blue and green pigment with a dry brush, this work is painted in the light and airy style of the later Encampment (Gardri) School, established by the great religious leader, artist, and patron Situ Panchen at Palpung Monastery in southern Kham Province. These soft, cool colors found in the landscape contrast with the more thickly applied warm reds and oranges of the figures. A naturalistic attention to depicting animals, such as the goldenhaltered horses in the landscape at bottom center, is another hallmark of this painting tradition.
19th century
early to mid-17th century
19th century
19th century
10th century
first half of the 15th century
mid-19th century
17th or 18th century
Dated by inscription 1842
19th century