A rare thangka depicting a Raktayamari mandala, Tibet, 14th century | 十四世紀 藏傳红威羅瓦金剛曼荼羅唐卡 設色布本

Collection George Sheridan (1923-2008), and thence by descent.

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George Sheridan（1923-2008）收藏，此後家族傳承

The fierce red meditation deity Raktayamari in union with his consort Vajra Vetali surrounded by eight emanations appear at the centre of the mandala palace. The palace is surrounded by lotus petals, a band of auspicious emblems and symbols and Guardians of the Directions (dikpala) and an outer ring of multi-coloured flames. The mandalas of Vajrabhairava and Hevajra are depicted outside the palace in the upper left and right quadrants. Large figures of Panjarnata Mahakala, Sri Devi and Aparajita appear in the lower right corner. Indian mahasiddhas including Virupa are depicted in the upper register together with a lineage of Indian and Tibetan masters.

This iconographically complex thangka dates to a period of transition in Central Tibetan painting from the eastern Indian influence of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries to the Newar style of the Kathmandu Valley in the thirteenth century onwards. The bifurcated ends of the thin ribbon-like scarves worn by Raktayamari and Panjarnata Mahakala are typical of twelfth to early fourteenth century Pala style Tibetan paintings, such as the thirteenth century Vajravarahi mandala in Jane Casey, Taklung Painting: A Study in Chronology, Serindia, 2023, pl. 13, while the scrollwork background is typical of Sakya paintings that were famously commissioned from Newar painters, such as the fourteenth century Vajradhatu mandala in the Kronos Collections, in Steven Kossak and Jane Casey Singer, Sacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet, New York, 1998, cat. 45. This rare Raktayamari mandala may thus be dated to the fourteenth century.

本幅曼荼羅主尊為紅色忿怒本尊——紅色閻魔尊，與其明妃結雙身相安處於曼荼羅宮殿中央，四周環繞八尊化身。宮殿外圍依序繪蓮瓣環、吉祥圖紋、方位守護神與多彩火焰圍繞，構成典型密教曼荼羅之布局。曼荼羅左上與右上角分別繪有大威德金剛與喜金剛曼荼羅。畫面右下角繪有護法神大黑天、吉祥天母與不敗明王之像，氣勢威嚴。畫面上方則繪有印度大成就者系譜，包含著名之毘盧巴，以及歷代印度與藏地上師傳承。

此件圖像語彙繁複之唐卡，可斷為藏地繪畫風格由十一至十三世紀受東印度帕拉藝術影響，逐漸過渡至十三世紀以後尼泊爾加德滿都谷地「尼瓦爾畫派」（Newar）風格之轉型時期作品。畫中紅無厭與大黑天所佩纖長飄帶之分叉末端造型，即為十二至十四世紀初帕拉風格之典型特徵，參見 Jane Casey，《Taklung Painting: A Study in Chronology》，倫敦：Serindia，2023年，圖版13，所載十三世紀金剛亥母曼荼羅；而畫面中所見之卷草紋背景則為薩迦派尼泊爾畫師所繪風格之特徵，尤見於十四世紀克羅諾斯收藏中之《金剛界曼荼羅》，參見 Steven Kossak 與 Jane Casey Singer，《Sacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet》，紐約，1998年，圖版45。綜合風格判斷，推測本幅罕見之紅無厭曼荼羅應為十四世紀作品。