Purbu Chog Ngagwang Champa (1682-1762): teacher of the 3rd Panchen Lama Jetsun Palden Yeshe.

Biographical details.

This painting belongs to a set of Lamrim Lineage Teachers where the scholar Purbu Chog is counted as #53 in the line. Purbu Chog can be looked at as one of the most important Tibetan figures of the 18th century - influencing both the secular and religious culture of Tibet. The central figure is surrounded by small narrative vignettes highlighting the major events from Purbu Chog's life story.

This is an impressive painting from an equally impressive and very large set of paintings. Only seven other paintings from the complete set are known to exist. The Rubin Museum of Art already owns one of the finest out of those remaining eight paintings - Shantarakshita.

Jeff Watt 12-2007