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Lot Essay
The yogi Milarepa is considered one of the great folk heroes of Tibetan culture and one of the key religious figures in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Despite the high acclaim in which he is held, the exact details of his life are unknown. Indeed, to this day, there is some debate about the years of his birth and death, although most scholars believe that he was born in 1040 and died in 1123. Much of what is known about his life comes from the work of the 15th century yogi and biographer, Tsangyön Heruka, who is known to have embellished his accomplishments. Nonetheless, it is generally accepted that Milarepa led the life of a layman before seeking out the guidance of the guru Marpa and eventually becoming a great master himself. It is because of his rise from an ordinary Tibetan to enlightened master that he is so well-respected in Tibetan culture. He is said to have composed thousands of songs and poems of a Buddhist nature and therefore is often portrayed with his hand cupped to his ear in song. In the present painting, he is shown wearing the single white robe of an ascetic yogi, the repa, from which his name derives.
At the bottom of the painting are several vignettes depicting the stories of his early life, including his birth at far left and his father's return from the market to name his son at right. This thangka would have been the first painting in a larger set of nineteen, and the stories from later in his life would have been depicted in the other works. Currently, there are only four known sets with this unique composition. There is a complete set at the Folkens Museum Etnografiska in Stockholm that was acquired in Beijing in 1930, and another known complete set in Ladakh, India. Three paintings from a third set reside in a private collection, and this thankga would be the first painting in a fourth known set. For illustrations of part of the Stockholm collection, see M. Rhie, et al., Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, 1991, pp. 242-245 and 368, cat. nos. 82, 83, and 152, and for images of the three paintings in a private collection, see Himalayan Art Resources (www.himalayanart.org), HAR no. 66417.
At the bottom of the painting are several vignettes depicting the stories of his early life, including his birth at far left and his father's return from the market to name his son at right. This thangka would have been the first painting in a larger set of nineteen, and the stories from later in his life would have been depicted in the other works. Currently, there are only four known sets with this unique composition. There is a complete set at the Folkens Museum Etnografiska in Stockholm that was acquired in Beijing in 1930, and another known complete set in Ladakh, India. Three paintings from a third set reside in a private collection, and this thankga would be the first painting in a fourth known set. For illustrations of part of the Stockholm collection, see M. Rhie, et al., Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, 1991, pp. 242-245 and 368, cat. nos. 82, 83, and 152, and for images of the three paintings in a private collection, see Himalayan Art Resources (www.himalayanart.org), HAR no. 66417.