BUDDHA VAIROCANA OF THE SUPREME KNOWLEDGE

Description:

China, Ming/ early Qing dynasty
171 x 75 cm, R.
The transcendent Buddha Vairocana, who is like the sun, wears a red upper garment and a blue under garment lined with lotuses. He sits on a blue lotus in the posture of the lotus seat (padmāsana) symbolizing interior concentration. His fingers form the mudrā of supreme knowledge (bodhyagri, chin. zhiquanyin, jap. chikenin). Under the blue lotus the lake of rebirth in the Western Paradise is depicted with souls reborn on lotus flowers. In front of the terraced base a big flower-like disc appears with the eight hexagrams of the Chinese Book of Changes (Yijing) flanked by depictions of the sun and the moon in clouds. Golden dragons curl on the different terraces of the base, which symbolize the cosmic Sumeru Mountain of Buddhism. The painting is probably the central icon of a triptych from a temple and should have been flanked on both sides by depictions of Bodhisattvas. It shows many interesting details and the solemn figure of the Buddha has a very strong presence. Ink and colors on silk, framed under glass.
Old European private collection, assembled before 1980
Published and exhibited: Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milano 1956, no. 25, plate XXV
Minor wear and very minor damages and restorations due to age