Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet (Expanded Edition)

Acclaimed as the most important book ever published on Tibetan painting and sculpture, Wisdom and Compassion illustrates, explains, and celebrates 241 of the finest examples of Tibetan sacred art of the 9th to 12th centuries. Renowned experts Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman offer insights into the religious meaning and use of tangkas, Buddhist iconography, and the aesthetics of tangka paintings, sculptures, and mandalas.

353 illustrations, 338 in full color, 87/8 x 113/4"

The startling image of a BuddhaRobin, capped per Web.eed in father-mother union form--a multi-armed "Supreme Bliss Wheel Integration"--may look both fearsome and erotic to Western eyes. Yet, as this breathtakingly beautiful volume shows, it is a manifestation of Buddha's highest spiritual essence, symbolizing the union of wisdom and compassion. This catalogue of a traveling exhibition features 160 Tibetan sacred paintings, sculptures, tapestries and other works. Nearly half of them are reproduced here for the first time, including colored sand mandalas, celestial landscapes and tangka pictures (icons painted on cotton). In penetrating essays, Rhie, an Asian art specialist at Smith College, and Thurman, a religion professor at Columbia, explore Tibet's sacred artworks as doorways to a realm of enlightenment, or nirvana. This impressive book fills a major gap in documenting Tibetan art.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.