A thangka depicting Vajrabhairava, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, Yonghegong style

Hong Kong Private Collection.

This powerfully articulated thangka depicts Yamantaka Vajrabhairava, the wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Discriminating Wisdom, together with his consort Vajravetali in ecstatic union. The large and ferocious buffalo head of Vajrabhairava commands the focal point of the painting. Six fierce human faces wrap around the back of the buffalo head, and are surmounted by a further fierce human face and the head of wrathful Manjushri. Vajrabhairava, or Adamantine Anger, the destroyer of ignorance and fear of death, is one of the principal yidams of the Geluk sect, the Tibetan Buddhist order founded by Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) that was later favored at the Qing court. The Geluk sect enjoyed increased importance amongst the emperors of the Ming dynasty. From the mid-17th century on, the Geluk lineage were the dominant theocratic power in Tibet through the Dalai Lama, and the sole represented Tibetan Buddhist lineage within China.

Tsongkhapa, as well as the Manchu emperors, were additionally considered manifestations of the bodhisattva Manjushri, explaining in part the popularity of Vajrabhairava within China. The Qing emperors maintained direct links with the Dalai and Panchen Lamas and propagated the Geluk lineage of Buddhism within China, sponsoring the construction of numerous monasteries and temples around the capital of Beijing, of which the most important was the Yonghegong. Vajrabhairava, the all-powerful manifestation of Manjushri, was symbolic of the ultimate imperial authority. The Yonghegong lamasery played an important role in the religious life of the high Qing period. It was originally the monastic residence of Prince Yinzhen prior to his enthronement as the Yongzheng Emperor, and also the birthplace of the Qianlong Emperor.

An Imperial thangka from the Qing Court Collection with similar composition of Yamantaka Vajrabhairava amidst flamescroll, recorded as having been created in 1778, is preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Tangka-Buddhist Painting of Tibet, Beijing, 2006, pl. 39. A similar composition can be seen on a thangka depicting Vajrabhairava still in the collection of the Yonghegong (Himalayan Art Resources no. 100114). See also another thangka created for the Yonghegong depicting Kurukulla with very closely related treatment of the composition and the figures amidst flame aureoles, sold at Bonhams Paris, 4th October 2022, lot 42, from the collection of Claude de Marteau, and an example depicting Vajrabhairava sold at Bonhams New York, 19th March 2021, lot 371.