Twelve Dzogchen Buddhas - An Obscure Subject
This landscape format painting of Shakyamuni and the Twelve Dzogchen Buddhas has been recently identified and added to the Twelve Dzogchen Buddhas Main Page on the HAR site. In the not so distant past it was a rare subject in art and iconography. More paintings and possibly sculpture are likely to be found as the topic becomes better understood and iconographically recognizable.
Although the painting is clearly intended to depict a Nyingma iconographic program and subject, there are also Gelug compositional conventions and forms. Aside from the Twelve Buddhas, the unique Nyingma identifiers are images such as the depiction of Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri Buddha at the top center, the special four-armed Avalokiteshvara, in a standing posture, of the Longchen Nyingtig tradition placed slightly to the top left and the appearance of the teacher Longchenpa on the far right. The three images at the bottom of the painting - Krodha Vajrapani (center), Tinle Pehar (left) and Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo (right) - follow traditional Gelug compositional conventions in subject choice and placement.