A THANGKA DEPICTING MAHASIDDHA DAMARUPA AND AVADHUTIPA Tibet, 16th Century

A THANGKA DEPICTING MAHASIDDHA DAMARUPA AND AVADHUTIPA Tibet, 16th Century

the mahasiddha Damarupa to the left, holding the damaru and kapala and in discourse with the mahasiddha Avadhutipa, both seated on a lotus throne with snow lions beneath, and surrounded by teachers and adepts of the Sakya Ngorpa Lamdre lineage, two forms of Chakrasamvara above and Chaturbhuja Mahakala below

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 18332.
25 1/4 by 21 1/8 in. (64 by 53.6 cm)

Provenance:
For another painting in the same series, depicting the Indian teacher Gayadhara and the Tibetan translator Drogmi Lotsawa, see Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources item no. 18330.

Compare a fifteenth or early sixteenth century thangka of Tilopa and Naropa, formerly in the collection of Doris Wiener, see Marylin M. Rhie, Robert A. F. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, Expanded Edition, New York, 1996, p. 426, cat. no. 179, where the authors note that this format, of two adepts appearing together on a throne and surrounded by lineage masters, became a popular theme in late fifteenth and early sixteenth century thangka painting.

Compare also another example of the genre in the Zimmerman Family Collection, see Pratapaditya Pal, Art of the Himalayas, New York, 1991, cat. no 95.