Green Tara, Seated in Pose of Royal Ease (Lalitasana), with Lotus Stalks on Right Shoulder and Hands in Gestures of Reasoning (Vitarkamudra) and Gift Conferring (Varadamudra) (Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Green Tara, Seated in Pose of Royal Ease (Lalitasana), with Lotus Stalks on Right Shoulder and Hands in Gestures of Reasoning (Vitarkamudra) and Gift Conferring (Varadamudra) (Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Yongle reign mark and period (1403–24)) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as China.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

China's pantheon of Buddhist deities, with their accompanying rituals and artistic styles, burgeoned following its conquest by the Mongols and its absorption into the pan-Asian, multiethnic Yuan empire (1279-1368). From then on, many Chinese rulers and members of elite society, of both native and foreign heritage, became fervent devotees of Tibetan Buddhism. This tradition is also known as Vajrayana (Diamond Path) or Tantric Buddhism. Buddhist images made in China but influenced by Tibetan (as well as Nepalese) iconography and style are termed Sino-Tibetan. This image depicts one of many emanations of the compassionate deity Tara. An inscription on the top surface of its throne reads "Da Ming Yongle nian zhi" (Bestowed in the Yongle reign of the Great Ming). The Yongle emperor was the third ruler of the Ming dynasty and a great patron of Buddhist art.

Object facts

• Title: Green Tara, Seated in Pose of Royal Ease (Lalitasana), with Lotus Stalks on Right Shoulder and Hands in Gestures of Reasoning (Vitarkamudra) and Gift Conferring (Varadamudra)
• Date: Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Yongle reign mark and period (1403–24)
• Artist attribution: China
• Place of origin: China
• Medium: Gilt copper alloy with traces of pigment (lapis lazuli)
• Dimensions: 21.5 × 13.5 × 12.5 cm (8 1/2 × 5 1/4 × 4 7/8 in.)
• Type: Metalwork
• Department: Arts of Asia
• Reference number: 1925.378

Collection credit

Gift of Guy H. Mitchell

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