Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 3 pages
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
The enlightened wrathful deity Vajrabhairava, Buddhist conqueror of death, embraces his female partner, Vajravetali. His nine heads include that of a buffalo, the animal associated with the defeated god of death, and the crowning yellow face of Manjushri, bodhisattva of wisdom, with whom Vajrabhairava is associated. Vajrabhairava’s central crown of skulls is topped with images of five peaceful Buddhas, a reminder that his gruesome imagery, by forcing us to confront what we fear, ultimately supports the goal of enlightenment.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
18534
label
Vajrabhairava with Vajravetali
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
18534
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Vajrabhairava with Vajravetali
description
The enlightened wrathful deity Vajrabhairava, Buddhist conqueror of death, embraces his female partner, Vajravetali. His nine heads include that of a buffalo, the animal associated with the defeated god of death, and the crowning yellow face of Manjushri, bodhisattva of wisdom, with whom Vajrabhairava is associated. Vajrabhairava’s central crown of skulls is topped with images of five peaceful Buddhas, a reminder that his gruesome imagery, by forcing us to confront what we fear, ultimately supports the goal of enlightenment.
provenance
John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore; given to Walters Art Museum, 2002.
date
18th century
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
paintings
tangkas
tankas
thangkas
thankas
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
88.9
height
57.2
dimensionsRaw
H: 35 × W: 22 1/2 in. (88.9 × 57.15 cm); Approx. framed H: 73 1/2 × W: 43 3/4 × D: 2 1/2 in. (186.69 × 111.13 × 6.35 cm)
Source extras
med
tempera on cloth
creator_ids
6868
collection_ids
INT
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
9744a5b0b1d3cf44
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
c2d54841c5c38dc9
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
1f2e3969a11b3a27
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no