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The Repeated Figures Composition Page has been updated with additional links and content.

Of the three types of composition in Himalayan style art, [1] Register, Grouped Figures and Archaic Architecture, [2] Floating Figure and [3] Repeated Figure Composition, the first of these with register and grouped figures was the earliest to appear and lasted from approximately the 11th century until the 17th century.

Of the three types of composition in Himalayan style art, [1] Register, Grouped Figures and Archaic Architecture, [2] Floating Figure and [3] Repeated Figure Composition, the Floating Figure type became the dominant composition style for scroll painting (tangka) after the 17th century.

The Painting and Composition Types Main Page has been updated with additional links and content.

A gallery of Bhutan Paintings and Textiles has been added to the Masterworks Main Page.

A gallery of Repeated Figure Composition Masterworks has been added to the Masterworks Main Page.

The Illusive Play: The Autobiography of the Fifth Dalai Lama by Samten Gyaltsen Karmay is truly an impressive work filled with references to artists and the commissioning of works for personal use, gift exchanges and the refurbishing of ancient temples and monasteries.

"The Illusive Play: The Autobiography of the Fifth Dalai Lama is an English translation of the autobiography of Ngagwang Lobzang Gyatsho, the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682). The work is of exceptional value because it has taken such care to give a precise chronology throughout its entire length. Lobzang Gyatsho’s autobiography is therefore a veritable witness to the life and culture of Tibet in the 17th century, which was a formative period for the establishment of the Tibetan Buddhist theocracy. In addition, the major events in which he himself played a pivotal role are presented: the overthrow of the king of Tsang, the creation of the Tibetan theocratic state with the founding of the Gaden Photrang government, the building of the Potala Palace and the undertaking of major diplomatic relationships with foreign powers, such as the Mongols and the Manchu empire. All these events are either alluded to or fully recounted in a personal way, so that on reading them one cannot help but feel the momentous occasions which the author recounts from his own experience." (Serindia Publications).

A gallery of selected images depicting the uses of the tetrahedron in Tantric Buddhist art has been added along with related links and examples.

A gallery of 'Maning' Mahakala Masterworks has been added to the Masterworks Main Page.

A gallery of Shri Shmashana Adhipati Masterworks has been added to the Masterworks Main Page.

A gallery of Rahula Masterworks has been added to the Masterworks Main Page.

A gallery of Padmasambhava Masterworks (sculpture) has been added to the Masterworks Main Page.

A gallery of Padmasambhava Masterworks (paintings) has been added to the Masterworks Main Page.

The images in this gallery each contain, as a secondary figure, a Tibetan Worldly Protector. A single image is of Tseringma, local protector of Shalu Monastery, in a standing posture, wearing peacock feathers. This image is a detail belonging to a mural located in the Lokeshvara chapel accessed from the ground floor circumambulatory of Shalu.

The other secondary images in the gallery depict Tashi Tseringma riding a lion and Damchen Garwa Nagpo riding a goat. 

The Buddhist religious traditions discussed here are currently extant in the 21st century. The purpose of this page is to link and associate the relationships between the various schools and arrange them into their natural groupings.

This is a work in progress, an exercise in chronologically listing paintings according to inscription based dating. This first gallery contains a selection of Sakya paintings that can generally be dated to within two and ten years of manufacture.

A main page has been added for the teacher Dagchen Tutob Wangchug (1588-1637).

The Dzongpa Tradition Main Page has been updated with additional images and links.

The Sakya Tridzin Wangdu Nyingpo Page has been updated.

Each of the goddess figures has one face and four arms. One pair of hands are folded in the gesture of meditation in the lap. Who are these four-armed goddesses?