Order of Rigden Jyepo 1933

Nicholas Roerich conjured this vision, Order of Rigden Jyepo, with paint – probably tempera – and a loaded brush. Imagine him, mixing pigment and yolk, layering washes of red, orange, and purple to create this otherworldly scene. I wonder, what was he thinking as he built up these vibrant colours? What was his state of mind, layering that graded background, which fades to a dark blue? What was he feeling as he delineated the dancing flames around Rigden Jyepo, the mythical king of Shambhala? Maybe this vision just poured out of him, a torrent of brushstrokes, each one a prayer or an incantation. I find it reassuring to think of Roerich, like other painters, engaged in this process of inquiry, struggling to give form to a feeling, a thought, a vision. These painters, like Roerich, aren’t just making pictures, they’re charting new territories of perception, reminding us that seeing is an act of faith and imagination. They are in conversation with one another, across time, inspiring our creativity.