Vajradhara, Nairatmya, and mahasiddhas Virupa and Kanha (c. 1450): Art, History and Details

Vajradhara, Nairatmya, and mahasiddhas Virupa and Kanha (c. 1450) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The first in a series depicting the masters who transmitted the teachings on how to reach enlightenment, this painting begins at the upper left with the dark blue Vajradhara, who represents the essence of all Buddhas. The female enlightened being Nairatmya is seated at the upper right. She transmitted the teachings to Virupa, the brown-skinned Indian yogi at the lower left, in a vision; his disciple Kanha is at the lower right.

Object facts

• Title: Vajradhara, Nairatmya, and mahasiddhas Virupa and Kanha
• Date: c. 1450
• Culture: Central Tibet, Ngor monastery
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on cotton
• Dimensions: Framed: 74.8 x 59.8 cm (29 7/16 x 23 9/16 in.); Overall: 57.5 x 50.2 cm (22 5/8 x 19 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Tibetan Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1960.206

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.