MONGOLIA, 18TH CENTURY

The striking palette of the present thangka set matches the excitement of the stories told within. This Mongolian rendering of the historical buddha’s life story is known in Tibetan as mdzad pa bcu gnyis or “the twelve deeds.” While there are known sets rendering this foundational Buddhist story, this one is unique in that it includes all 12 deeds within 7 paintings: (1)entering the womb of Queen Maya, (2)birth in the human realm, (3)demonstrating prowess in the worldly arts and through physical feats, (4)enjoying the worldly pleasures of a prince, (5)departing home to lead an ascetic lifestyle and finally renouncing it, (6)approaching enlightenment and (7)attaining buddhahood, (8)teaching the dharma, (9)conquering the demon Mara, (10)displaying miracles, (11)descending from Tushita Heaven, and (12)attaining nirvana.
The eighth painting is unique as it shows the historical buddha’s dear disciple Mahakashyapa assuming leadership of the newly formed sangha and initiating the First Buddhist Council. The top right corner of this painting shows the “father of the sangha’s” peaceful death while meditating in a cave. Five of these paintings are inscribed with their hanging order and all are inscribed with concise labels for each scene depicted. Color notations reveal the hand of the artist at work and the attention paid to assigning the proper colors to each designated field. Minor Tibetan misspellings may be attributed to the Mongolian hand at work.