Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Protector Deity Palden Lhamo with Entourage
(India, Nepal, and Tibet)
With a roaring cackle and a deafening shriek, Palden Lahmo rides a flying mule across waves of blood and fire, wielding a menacing chopper, skull cup, and trident. Palden Lhamo, the protector goddess of the Tibetan city of Lhasa and of the Dalai Lama—the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people—was married to a bloodthirsty king. She warned her husband that unless he ceased inflicting misery on others, she would kill their only son. When the king refused, she carried out her threat: she murdered their son, skinned him, drank his blood, and then rode away on a mule using her son’s flayed skin as the saddle blanket.
Delicately rendered in gold on a nearly black background, the composition requires a sustained gaze to distinguish the figures of Palden Lahmo and her companions from the flames, smoke, and mists that encircle them.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Stuart Perrin, New York; purchased by John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, March 25 1984.
Exhibitions
| 2001-2003 | Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. |
Geographies
Tibet (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 41 3/4 x W: 20 in. (106 x 50.8 cm); Framed: 42 1/2 × 26 × 2 in. (107.95 × 66.04 × 5.08 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of John and Berthe Ford, 2019
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
35.327