Book Cover with Virupa and Guru with Amitabhas by Anonymous

Book Cover with Virupa and Guru with Amitabhas 14th-15th century

natural stone pattern

naturalistic pattern

geometric pattern

repetitive shape and pattern

organic pattern

repetition of pattern

vertical pattern

pattern repetition

layered pattern

funky pattern

This 14th-15th century Tibetan Buddhist artwork is a book cover depicting Virupa and Guru with Amitabhas. It features a grid of 48 small figures, each in a seated posture, surrounding two larger figures at the center. The two larger figures are adorned with intricate details and halos, while the smaller figures are more stylized and repetitive. The depiction suggests a connection to the practice of visualizing a network of spiritual figures and the importance of both individual and collective enlightenment. This book cover, now located at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, demonstrates the skillful use of gold and vibrant colors to create a visually impactful and spiritual piece.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

⋮

This painting would have decorated the interior of a book cover, visible only to those few who commissioned and cared for the manuscript it protected. The central image features a charismatic man with bulging eyes, identifiable as the Mahasidda Virupa, a historical figure from India (c. 600s ce) famous for his superhuman cerebral powers. Here, Virupa points to the sun, commanding it to stay in place, illustrating a story in which he promised a bartender he would pay his bill (and stop drinking) only when the sun set. Virupa, and his association with Vajrayana Buddhist teachings, was an important figure for the Sakyapa Order of Tibetan Buddhism; he is seen in dialogue with the Lama (teacher) Sakya Pandita (1182–1251). This double portrait is surrounded by a golden grid of 78 images of the Cosmic Buddha Amitayas, who holds in his lap a vase containing the elixir of immortality, symbolizing that enlightenment results in boundless life.