Skip to main content
The Walters Art Museum

Online Collection

Explore the Art Collection keyboard_arrow_down close
  • Explore By...
  • Category
  • Date
  • Medium
  • Creator
  • Places
  • Museum Locations
The Walters Art Museum walters-logo-white
  • Calendar
  • Art
  • Shop
  • Give Now
  • Visit
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Hours
    • Directions & Parking
    • Food, Drink, & Shop
    • Free Admission
    • Tours
    • Accessibility
    • Visitor Promise
  • Experience
    • Virtual Museum
    • Exhibitions & Installations
    • Programs & Events
    • Collections
    • Buildings
    • Baltimore
  • Support
    • Support the Walters
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Institutional Funders
    • Evening at the Walters
    • Volunteers
  • About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Leadership
    • Strategic Plan
    • Land Acknowledgment
    • Research
    • Policies
Image for Portrait of a Lama
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
Image for Portrait of a Lama
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
Image for Portrait of a Lama
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
Image for Portrait of a Lama
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
Image for Portrait of a Lama
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
Image for Portrait of a Lama
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
Image for Portrait of a Lama
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
  • arrow_forward_ios
  • arrow_forward_ios
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail
Portrait of a Lama Thumbnail

Portrait of a Lama

Tibetan (Artist)
18th century
tempera and gold on cloth
(India, Nepal, and Tibet)

This finely detailed painting features a portrait of a lama surrounded by other figures, including monks, divinized teachers, celestial beings, enlightened deities, and a Buddha. Seated on a throne before an altar, the lama holds the stems of two lotuses, the blossoms of which support a bell and "vajra," ritual implements that in Tibetan Buddhist traditions symbolize wisdom and compassion, and thus together form the essence of enlightenment. As keepers and teachers of sacred knowledge, lamas are highly revered individuals, and their portraits are objects of veneration.

The lower portion of the painting, with its backdrop of buildings and trees, depicts the earthly realm, populated by monks who would be among those to venerate the lama and receive his teachings. Below the altar in front of the central figure, three seated monks engage in activities of monastic life: one sits with a rosary, while two others discuss a document; one monk writes as the other stamps it with a seal in red ink. In the painting’s lower right is a worldly protector god sitting in front of a building with parapets lined in human skulls; he is likely the protector of the monastery to which the central lama belongs. The figure in the lower left, where the patron is typically depicted, wears a hat similar to that of the central figure, suggesting that he is the lama’s disciple and possibly successor as leader of their monastic lineage.

The middle and upper portions of the painting, moving from mountain landscapes to a rich blue sky, progress into the heavenly realms. Here, figures are marked by halos, an indication of their divinized status. Individualized lamas and monks surround the central figure, while the Buddha directly above him, making the gesture of instruction, indicates the source of the teachings that the lama would have propagated.

The reverse is marked by handprints and footprints, each of which is embellished with leaf and lotus motifs painted in gold. The appearance of handprints and footprints on a tangka renders visible the touch of a holy person who came into contact with it, preserving the sacred presence of that individual. When prints appear on the reverse of a tangka, they endow the scroll with the permanent blessings of the lama who consecrated it.

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Owned by a monk from a Tibetan monastery, Darjeeling, West Bengal; given to Walter Hauser [1], Charlottesville, Virginia, 1964; given to Walters Art Museum, 2016.

[1] While living in north India

Share
  • social-item
  • social-item
  • social-item

Geographies

Tibet (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Overall H: 50 3/16 × W: 23 13/16 × D: 1 in. (127.5 × 60.5 × 2.5 cm); Image H: 23 13/16 × W: 15 3/16 in. (60.5 × 38.5 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Walter Hauser, 2016

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.

35.321

Do you have additional information?

Notify the curator

Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

  • Visit
  • Experience
  • What's On
  • About
  • Shop
  • Support The Walters
copyright

The Walters Art Museum

  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy/Terms of Use
  • Copyright Info
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • twitter
modal close
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
  • arrow_forward_ios
  • arrow_forward_ios